


Ripples in Time: History of Trunks

by Rose1991



Series: Ripples In Time [2]
Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Declarations Of Love, F/F, Graphic Description, Loss of Innocence, Loss of Parental Figure, Loss of Virginity, Love/Hate, Mirai Trunks | Future Trunks Timeline, Post-Apocalyptic, Requiem, Tragic Romance, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-04-07 15:46:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 53,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14084235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose1991/pseuds/Rose1991
Summary: “I’d love to change the world, but I don’t know what to do. So, I’ll leave it up to you.” – Ten Years AfterIn the future destroyed by the Androids, there is a hero. His name is Gohan. In his last year of life, he experienced many things after a chance encounter with a Saiyan named Mia Jicama. This is his story of love, heartbreak, and tragedy.





	1. Part One: Voca Me

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All Dragon Ball content is owned by Toei Animation, Funimation, FujiTV, and Akira Toriyama.
> 
> Please remember to review!
> 
> Please make sure you've read Ripples in Time first, as it will provide a lot of answers to the OCs, as well as some things I'm putting into Saiyan culture that aren't necessarily canon.

**Part One: _Voca Me_**

_Voca me cum benedictis. “Call me with the blessed.”_

 

_May 12 th is a day that will go down in history as the bloodiest and most fate-altering day in history. It started with mass panic on an island being attacked by two beings. The city was wiped out in seconds. The world government made a broadcast immediately suspecting terrorism when another city was wiped out.  That was when the Androids revealed themselves to the world. It was rumored a group of superhero warriors went to stop them, but only a child survived._

_Over twelve years have passed since that day. Twelve long years the Androids had sunk Earth into an apocalyptic wasteland. Shelters and bunkers had been built for the vestiges of the human race still alive, and radio is the only communication left. All hope had been pretty much lost._

_But there was one ray of hope still left to the living world. A hero had survived, and he constantly made attempts to stop the Androids enough to get people to safety. Some believed that the hero was the child who survived twelve years ago. But that was probably an urban legend._

*~*~*

“Let’s take a break Trunks,” Gohan called out to the young purple haired saiyan that held onto his knees, gasping for air. Gohan handed him a towel to wipe his face with, which the younger saiyan accepted greatfully. Trunks plopped down on the ground with a grunt, wiping his face as he let out a sigh. “You did good today, Trunks.”

“Thanks,” he replied half-heartedly into the towel.

“What’s wrong?” Gohan asked, a small smile forming on his face. Teaching the younger hybrid how to fight and get stronger was oddly rewarding, more than he thought it would be.

Trunks removed the towel, revealing to the older saiyan his frown. “Why can’t I become a super saiyan yet? I feel like …”

“Hey,” Gohan interrupted, putting a comforting hand on Trunks’ shoulder, “You’re doing good. You just aren’t there yet. It’s not something that happens overnight.”

“I know,” Trunks groaned, “But I feel like I’m just holding you back.”

Gohan opened his mouth to chide the teenager’s gloomy thoughts, when a loud explosion sounded. Gohan was up in the air in an instant, surveying the landscape. That’s when he saw it, about thirty miles out, a huge plume of black smoke rose in the air. “Shit. ANDROIDS!” He called down to the younger saiyan. “KEEP UP!!” Trunks followed suit, catching up to Gohan quickly. He was sure the older saiyan was going slower for Trunks to not get lost. “I need you to back me up in the fight.”

Trunks looked at him as if he were insane. “I’m not nearly strong enough to take on the androids, yet.”

“I know!” Gohan snapped. “We just need to chase them off, and make sure the people are ok. Killing comes after you’ve become a super saiyan.”

The air began to get thick with smoke as they lowered. Gohan powered up to super saiyan easily as he surveyed the situation. He frowned suddenly, and that’s when Trunks felt it. “Gohan, I’m sensing …”

“Sh,” Gohan said, lifting his hand. He could sense it too. Two large power-levels were fighting nearby. But it was impossible to sense the Androids’ energies. So who was this? Gohan waved Trunks over, making a sign to keep quiet. That meant to lower his power level too, just in case. Trunks followed suit, flying carefully behind Gohan as they flew in towards the fight. As they got in close, they saw two women, white blond hair and petit figures. One had short curly hair that stuck up like horns, wearing a dust stained white tank top, black cargo pants and beat-up brown boots with buckles.  The other woman’s hair flew behind her in long waves, wearing a green crop-top, ripped skinny jeans, and black knee-high boots. The woman with shorter hair fought Seventeen, while the younger looking woman threw punch after punch after Eighteen, throwing in some sweeping kicks as well.

“Die, BITCH!!!” the younger woman howled, stretching out her hands and producing a large energy ball in front of the android’s face. The android smirked, smacking the woman’s arms up, sending the blast into outer space. In a single swift motion, Eighteen threw a hand up with a stronger energy ball. The woman had barely a second to react and block as the ball blew her away.

“MIA!!!!” the older woman cried out as the younger woman plummeted into the rocks, her hair turning black.

“Super Saiyans,” Gohan breathed hopefully. He powered up, his hair turning blond and his eyes green. “Trunks, get her quickly.” He didn’t waste time jumping into action, taking the blond android by surprise as he kicked her in the side, sending her flying into a building. The other fighters stopped, the woman’s eyes wide as she saw Gohan. She shook off her confusion, deciding to focus back on the android in front of her.

“EIGHTEEN!!!” the dark-haired android called out.

“Go, now!” Gohan yelled at the curly haired woman as he stepped in to fight off Seventeen. The curly haired woman ignored him, flying at the android with a heightened fury.  After blocking several of her punches, the android threw up his force field, forcing the curly haired Saiyan back. Before she could rebound into a guarded stance, the android shot a beam at her, hitting her in the chest just above her left breast, blood pouring out of her. “Shit!” Gohan breathed, his fingers flying up to his face before he screamed, “Solar flare!” A blinding white light enveloped the city wreckage, giving Gohan time to grab the falling Saiyan and zoom out of there. Trunks followed him quickly, holding the long-haired woman who was bigger than the small teen.

“Is she alright?” Gohan called back to Trunks once they were out of earshot, halfway back to Capsule Corp. Training was done for today.

“Yeah, just knocked out,” Trunks called back.

“Good,” Gohan sighed. “That’s more than I can say for this one.”

“Wh-where are you …” the older woman struggled.

“Don’t talk,” Gohan urged, “We’re almost there.” The woman passed out from blood loss, pushing Gohan to speed up. Within minutes, they had landed at the dilapidated Capsule Corp, one of the last safe havens in the world. They sprinted inside, running to the lab where Bulma would be working on a way to save the world. “Bulma! We need your help!” Gohan called as he shouldered through the door, carrying the elder Saiyan to a well-used gurney. Trunks set the other one down gently on the side couch as Bulma bustled over, taking a look at the curly haired lady. Trunks ran out of the room, offering to bring water and rags.

“What happened?” she asked as she examined the woman’s wound, ignoring the hero’s blood-soaked orange gi. It was clear that the woman was losing blood quickly, but she’d live if they could get the bleeding to slow.

“Androids,” Gohan breathed, catching his breath as he braced himself against the table. Bulma hasted to clip away the woman’s tank strap, revealing the wound to open air, and she began to clamp a nicked vessel to sew it back together. She clipped away the rest of the woman’s shirt and ruined bra to remove them in case they caused infection. Bulma made a mental note to find a shirt for the woman later. Gohan looked away awkwardly as Bulma exposed the woman’s chest. “By the time we got there, these two were already fighting them. We got there at the tail end of the fight. I figured it was better to save them at the moment than to engage.”

Bulma nodded, finishing the vessel and moving onto the torn tissue, disinfecting the wound as she went. “Good fighters are hard to come by,” she reasoned.

“Even harder to come by are super saiyans,” Gohan added, frowning at the younger lady on the couch, his head filling with questions.

Bulma nodded along, focusing on the wound, until what Gohan said clicked in her brain. “Wait, they’re super saiyans?” Gohan nodded his answer, still looking at the other woman on the couch. Gohan stepped away from the gurney, ignoring Bulma’s questions in favor of checking on the younger woman. Bulma huffed annoyedly, working faster on the older woman.

Gohan sat on the edge of the couch, trying not to take up too much space as he checked on the long haired Saiyan. Her breathing was normal, as he could see as her large chest moved with each breath. Her bangs had fallen in her face, and he moved a hand to gently brush them to the side. It was clear the Saiyan woman was about his age, and his heart pounded. She was beautiful, he’d give her that. She had high cheekbones and an angular demure jawline, giving her face a regal appearance. That matched with sleek ebony eyebrows, long eyelashes, dainty nose, and soft pouty lips gave her the face of a heartbreaker. And yet, there was something familiar about her that he just couldn’t put his finger on.

“She’s fine, just knocked out,” Trunks stated beside him, eyeing the beautiful stranger, holding the rags and water he’d left to fetch.

Gohan cleared his throat, standing up from the couch, suddenly feeling awkward at being caught staring at the Saiyan woman. He chewed on the inside of his cheek as he reached for the blanket resting on the back of the couch, pulling it over the woman. “Then we should let her rest,” he stated.

“She might be more comfortable on one of the beds,” Bulma offered, still stitching away. Over the years, she’d gotten good at stitching up wounds, since senzu beans were all but extinct. She was working on engineering a new type of senzu bean plant, but that would take another decade at least. “Two rooms down,” the scientist directed. She looked up from the wounded woman’s shoulder as Gohan moved to pick up the younger woman, adding, “you also might want to change out of your shirt.”

Gohan looked down at his gi, seeing it covered in blood, and he cursed. He wiped at it, feeling it was still wet, and he sighed, wiping his hand clean on his dry orange shoulder. Carefully, he removed his orange and blue gi tops, discarding them on the floor near the gurney, near the other blood-soaked rags that were the older woman’s top. “I’ll wash those once I’m done with her,” Bulma offered, looking up to see her thirteen-year-old son staring wide-eyed at the half-naked woman on the gurney. Bulma growled, “And get him out of here!”

Gohan rolled his eyes at Trunks, taking the rags and water from him and placing it on a table within reach of Bulma in case she needed them. He turned around, a disappointed glare falling on the gaping teen. Gohan quickly grabbed him by the upper arm and dragged him out of the lab. “W-wait, ow!” Trunks protested, but Gohan ignored him.

“Go, get a bed ready,” he instructed.

“B-but…”

“Go,” Gohan said again, more sternly.

Trunks huffed annoyedly, going down the hall to prepare a bed for the Saiyan lady. Gohan moved to the couch, picking up the younger woman bridal style, her head curling into his shoulder. His heart began to pound again as he felt her breath puff against his bare chest. He focused his mind, moving her to the other room. He laid her gently on the bed, resting her head on the soft pillow. He found the zippers to the boots on the inside, and gently removed them, leaving her in her sock feet. He left the boots beside the bed as he pushed her legs under the covers, pulling the sheet and quilt up to her shoulders.

He stood, his broad shoulders resting as he turned to leave, seeing Trunks eyeing him curiously. “Come on,” Gohan breathed as he stepped out of the room, “Let’s help your mom get dinner ready.” Trunks frowned, but followed his master. Gohan leaned back in to shut the door quietly.

* * *

 

The whirring of a fan was the first thing Mia heard as she came to. Then she felt the pain in her ribs, the sore muscles from fighting a powerful robot. Her fists clenched as she bit back the pain, moving her sore body in the warm cocoon she lay in. That was when she realized she was in a bed, and her eyes shot open. She looked around, seeing a bluish white room. A white dresser sat in the corner opposite her holding a small framed photo of an attractive man in an orange gi and teenage boy with purple hair. She sat up slowly, her muscles disagreeing with the movement. She ignored the pain. It would subside. She grabbed her boots, which were set aside the bed, and put them back on, letting out a sigh as she dropped her last foot on the ground. She let out a calming, focusing exhale before standing, bracing herself for her muscles to protest harder against their use.

Slowly, she shuffled to the door quietly opening it. Even though she was certain the androids didn’t take her hostage, as they weren’t really the type to leave survivors, she wasn’t sure if she was taken in by friendly people either. She made her way down the hall, seeing family pictures lining the cracked walls. She saw two metal doors that looked out of place with the homey décor. Mia walked over to them, figuring it was best to check the oddly placed doors. Her heart pounded with fear, and her mind whirring with curiosity as she slowly pushed them open to see an empty laboratory with a blood-stained gurney in the middle of the room. A feeling of dread pooled in her gut as she began to worry where she’d ended up. She resolved to find her mother and get the hell out of there as soon as possible.

She moved to sneak out of the lab, back down the hall when she spun around into the large muscular chest of a tall man. She let out a scream, punching him away from her, sending the man flying to the end of the hall. He groaned as he recovered, sputtering out, “Wait. It’s not what you think.”

“That’s what they all say,” she remarked. Mia wasn’t buying it as she threw up her hands in a fighting stance.

The man looked at her confused, and Mia recognized him instantly as the attractive man from the photograph in the room she woke up in, but she was not swayed. “Who all?” he asked, his confusion dripping from every syllable as he settled into a defensive stance, which caused Mia to frown. She was in the defense position, not him.

“Where’s my Mom?” Mia asked instead, ignoring her opponent’s stance. If she controlled the conversation, she could get out easy. The man may look strong, but she was a Saiyan. He’d be a pushover, especially if he couldn’t tell the difference between defensive and offensive positions.

A look of realization dawned on the man’s face, and he lifted his hands in a surrendering position. “Your Mom is unconscious at the moment. She took a hard hit to her chest, and lost a lot of blood, but she’ll be fine.”

Mia’s fists tightened, her gaze not leaving his. He seemed sincere, but she’d experienced too much false sincerity in her life to believe his eyes. “Where!?” she demanded again, her tone even, but more forceful.

His shoulders dropped, removing his defensive stance as he pointed to the door behind her past the lab. She nodded, making a ki ball in one hand and aiming it at him, forcing him to stay where he was as she moved to check the last room. She opened the door to find her mother lying in what looked like an old hospital bed, her left shoulder and chest wrapped up in gauze. An IV drip was hooked up to her arm, the bag tagged as morphine.

“The doctor said she’d be out for at least a week,” the man stated, still on the other end of the hall, hands still raised. Mia sighed, lowering her arm and dissipating her ki blast. The man let out a relieved breath and he dropped his hands. “We were worried you might have a concussion,” he added, his eyes holding an odd amount of concern for a stranger.

Mia rolled her eyes. She didn’t need strangers doting on her well-being. “I’m fine. Just Ki exhaustion. Happens to the best of us, sometimes.” She moved toward him, still stiff with sore muscles. She’d have to give them a couple days to be back to feeling normal, maybe even stronger.

The man nodded, agreeing with her sentiment even though it was clear he had no idea what she meant. He jammed a thumb behind him awkwardly as he muttered, “We’ve got dinner being prepared, if you’d like to join us.”

Mia’s gaze narrowed at the man as she remarked, “What makes you think I want to eat with you?”

The man frowned, confused by her frigid demeanor as he stated, “I just figured, being a Saiyan and all, you’d be really hungry.”

Mia’s eyes flew wide as what he said registered in her brain. _They know about Saiyans!_ The man retreated back to the kitchen, and Mia followed him quickly, grabbing his shoulder and rounding on him just as the hallway opened up. “How do you know about Saiyans?” she demanded.

He blinked at her slowly, his frown still full of confusion, as he asked, “Didn’t you see at the battle?”

Her memories flew back at her, fighting with the fembot android, full of rage at the death of their old friend, Rito. She clenched her fist, trying her best to control her anger from taking over her emotions again. His death caused her to go super Saiyan, and she’d flown after those androids demanding revenge, her mother flying after her. She remembered the blonde android was tough, too tough to handle, but Mia had somehow held her own, her power increasing with every avenging thought. Then an odd light distracted her before the android fired a ki blast that could have easily killed her if she hadn’t thrown up a ki shield at the last second, which depleted her ki stores, causing her to pass out. But that light. It was like a golden flame. Mia originally thought it was her mother going super Saiyan, but her mother was already super Saiyan while she fought off the male android.

She took in the man’s features, black spiky hair, onyx eyes, and muscular but not overstated build. He was a Saiyan. He had to be. The only one possibly alive that her mother told her about was … “Kakarot?”

The man smirked, but his eyes held a bittersweet sadness. “No,” he answered, earning a confused frown from Mia. “He was my father.” Mia’s eyes flew wide at the revelation. “My name’s Gohan,” he added, offering her a hand to shake.

“Mia,” she breathed, eyeing his hand carefully. It wasn’t Saiyan custom to shake hands, since it opened the psychic link. She had no problem shaking a human’s hand, as they couldn’t open her thoughts, but another Saiyan could. She decided it was best to just cross her arms over her chest. “Mia Jicama.” Gohan looked a little disappointed as he lowered his hand back to his side. She pursed her lips realizing how her actions came off, but she decided to ignore it. If he had a problem, then he could deal with it.

He led her back to the kitchen, asking, “So, when did you come to Earth?”

“I was born here,” she replied uninterestedly, taking in the new rooms he was leading her through.

“So, you’re a hybrid too?” he asked.

She blinked at him slowly, taking his question in, and reading between the lines. _So, he’s a Saiyan- Earthling hybrid._ “No,” she answered, eyeing him strangely. “I’m full-blooded Saiyan. To be honest, I didn’t even know Saiyans and Earthlings could mate.”

Gohan chewed his lip at her crassness before replying, “Well, they can.”

“Clearly,” she muttered. Mentally, she joked to herself, _Clearly, I’ve been living like a nun for no reason._ A part of her realized it was her mother who told her Saiyans and humans couldn’t mate, likely to keep Mia from ending up as her mother did. Maybe she could forgive her for that.

“Mia?”

“What?” she asked blankly, realizing she’d mentally drifted off from the conversation.

Gohan frowned at her annoyedly as he realized she hadn’t been paying attention. “I asked if your dad was on Earth too, or was it just you and your mom?”

“Well, it’s a long story,” Mia stated, pursing her lips.

“We’ve got time,” he replied, coming to a stop. They had reached the kitchen, which was lit by dangling ceiling lights and large bay windows overlooking a terrace and setting sun. The sunset painted the room in a pinkish orange color.

“She’s awake!” a kid called, causing Mia to turn, seeing the purple-haired boy sitting at the table, dropping his textbook on it as he stood. Behind him was a woman with long blue hair tied back into a ponytail. She wore a white apron as she cooked. The smells of rice and beef filled Mia’s senses, and she began to feel how hungry she actually was.

“Mia, this is Trunks Briefs and his mom, Bulma,” Gohan stated, pointing out each of them. He gestured back to her as he introduced her, “This is Mia Jicama.”

“Thank you for patching up my mom,” Mia stated as the blue-haired woman turned to her, wiping her hands on her apron. The woman looked middle-aged, yet trying to hold onto her youth. She was pretty, with striking blue eyes set against prominent cheekbones. Her son, Trunks, looked like a classic teen heartthrob with his heavy-set brow, piercing blue eyes, and eager smile.

Mia ran a hand through her hair, pausing as she felt it out and free. She pulled her hand back in front of her, checking her wrists which were bare. “Fuck,” she breathed. “I lost my hair-tie.” She’d survive, it just made her feel self-conscious to not be able to tie her hair back. Back in school, the kids had always picked on her about how wild it was, to the point she just wasn’t comfortable to let it hang free anymore.

Gohan blinked at her slowly as he leaned on the counter, his mind puzzling at how this girl was a Saiyan. According to Vegeta, Saiyans were battle hungry beings always on the hunt for stronger power or the next level. Instead, this girl seemed more worried about her looks and letting her mind wander. He cleared his throat, a little annoyed at her blasé attitude. “Back to how you got here. Where’s your father?”

Mia glanced back at him, her frown showing she was equally annoyed with him as he was with her. “Dead, for all I know,” she stated, crossing her arms again. When the answer wasn’t good enough for Gohan, she added. “Look, he knocked up my mom when they worked under some dictator named Frieza. So, Mom faked her death ‘on a mission to find Kakarot,’” she used air quotes insinuating their double meaning. “After Mom landed, I was born. Mom did say she thought she saw him once, but that was almost twenty years ago, and she was certain he died. So, in short, never knew the guy.”

Gohan’s eyes fell to the floor at the news, thinking about how his uncle, and possibly her father died.

“And before you ask, no, I’m not your cousin,” Mia added, almost as if she was reading his mind. Gohan looked up at the Saiyan girl confused now. “Mom did tell me the teammate who helped her fake her death, Kakarot’s brother, was not my father. She and my father, the prince, were betrothed back on Planet Vegeta, before it blew.”

Bulma’s eyes flew wide as she looked Mia over again. The young woman did share a striking resemblance to the late prince, especially in the eyes. Her voice spoke before her brain thought to stop the words tumbling out of her mouth, “Vegeta never mentioned a daughter.”

Mia shot an odd glance at the blue-haired woman. “You know him?”

Bulma nodded numbly, her eyes wide at the revelation.

“I have a sister?” Trunks asked equally shocked, his voice breaking. Mia looked to the purple-haired child, her turn to be confused.

“Trunks, why don’t you go watch some tv for a bit,” Bulma offered, her eyes not moving from the Saiyan beauty.

“But …!”

“This isn’t up for discussion,” Bulma ordered, her gaze flitting to her son for a second. He huffed, screeching his chair back and stomping back down the hallway where the bedrooms were. Mia just eyed the scientist oddly as she calmly made her way around the counter to where her son had been sitting at the table, her hands clasping together as she found her place. “Please excuse my son. Trunks …” she trailed off with a sigh as she tried to find the right words, “he’s an idealistic boy. Very much driven to be just like his father.”

Mia frowned. “Vegeta,” she filled in, letting it sink in that the purple-haired child was actually her brother. Clearly, her father didn’t die twenty years ago. Instead he’d stayed here, forgot about her mother, mated a scientist … She didn’t want to continue thinking about it. She chewed her lower lip, immediately understanding what Bulma meant by her son’s reaction. He saw his father in a certain light, a positive light, that information of a half-sister could shade. She’d once imagined her father in a similar light when she was younger. This new information would tarnish that image. “Is he still alive?” she asked, although she had a feeling she knew the answer.

“He died trying to fight off the androids twelve and a half years ago,” Gohan answered this time, his gaze full of pity. Mia hated that.

She nodded as the information filed itself away, letting out a small relieved sigh. With all the things going on in the world, absent-daddy drama was the last thing she wanted to worry about. Rito had always been a sort of paternal figure for her, anyway. Her mind drifted to Rito, who lay dead in the streets of Orange Star City.

“If there is anything you’d like to know about him, we’d be happy to tell …” Bulma started.

Mia cut her off by raising her hand, still looking at the ground. “That’s nice of you. Really. But I didn’t know the man.”

Gohan frowned at her response, confused by her sudden turn from curiosity to not caring. He stood straight, eying the Saiyan woman oddly as he asked, “You don’t want to know anything about where you came from?”

Her tired gaze fell on his. “I’ve already lost one father figure today,” she said somberly, not looking at them. “If you don’t mind, I think I need to go get him.” That caused both Gohan and Bulma to share confused looks as Mia turned to leave. “I’ll be back for my mother later.” The outside door to the terrace shut and Mia zoomed off into the sky, flying east.

Gohan followed after her cursing. She flew faster than him, but he could sense her ki, and he was locked in on her signature. It was dark by the time she landed in the center of Orange Star City, a small city compared to the capitals, but it was the largest city for at least six hundred miles. City street lamps flickered and sparked, showing the apparent destruction of the town. As Gohan hovered behind, taking in the sight of it, his heart sank. This was the closest city to his house, where his mother tried to enroll him into school before his father contracted the heart virus. Where his mother would drag him and his father on shopping trips when their gis got too ripped up. And almost nothing was left.

Mia touched down in front of a collapsed building, a cracked sign outside pronouncing it the Orange Star Police Department. Cars had been flipped to create barriers, but they were half melted from android blasts. Mia walked the empty street until she stopped, seemingly finding what she’d been looking for at a half-melted car. She picked up the rubble tossing it away, revealing the broken body of a man underneath. The man’s body had been crushed post-mortem, but the worst damage was the point blank ki shot to his heart, his chest blown open.

Gohan could hear Mia crying as she brushed the man’s wet black hair away from his face and shutting his eyes, picking up his body while it hung limp in her arms. “You weren’t supposed to leave,” she sniffled. Gohan immediately felt bad, as if he’d intruded on an intimate moment. “Why did you follow me?” She turned to look at Gohan over her shoulder.

A part of him froze, his heart pounding as he realized she’d caught on to him “I-I wanted to make sure you were ok,” he replied honestly.

“I lost a dear friend of mine,” she stated, gesturing to the body in her arms. “No, I’m not ok.”

He let the silence hang in the air before he asked, “Do you need help burying him?”

“No,” she replied quickly, but as she looked around, noting the whole town had been decimated, she changed it to, “Maybe.” She paused before she added, “His family owns some land just north of here. I was going to take him there.” Gohan nodded, offering her to lead. She flew off, Gohan trailing after her again, this time following more closely until Mia landed at a house in the middle of a large over grown field. The house looked as if it hadn’t seen life in ages, and Gohan frowned as Mia took the body to the back where several graves had already been placed. Immediately understanding why she brought him here, Gohan blasted a hole next to the last grave, a woman named Doris Rito who lived to seventy, died last year. Mia lowered the man into the ground gently. As she came out of the ground, she began dropping dirt onto him, filling the hole, kneeling as she said a strange prayer Gohan had never heard before.

_“In life, we fight for pride and glory,_

_And in death, our greatest foe._

_May death fear your battle cry,_

_And may your warrior’s spirit find its home.”_

As she finished the last few handfuls of dirt, she added, “And for you Rito, ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil.’ Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.” She stood, brushing the dirt off her hands as she muttered, “It’s done.”

The way the light of the moon shone down on her left Gohan a little breathless. “Beautiful,” he breathed automatically, earning an odd look from Mia. “That was beautiful,” Gohan tried again clearing his throat, looking back at the grave.

“He died like a Saiyan. I wanted to honor him as one,” Mia stated, plainly, deciding to ignore his awkwardness. She turned away, beginning to walk off.

“Wait!” Gohan called, following after her. She stopped, but didn’t make any move to look at him. “We could really use your help to stop them.” Mia let out a bark of a laugh. The man was insane. “You’re a Super Saiyan, and so am I. Maybe we could …”

“So is my mom, and you see how that turned out today!” Mia snapped, spinning on him. Her eyes held a fiery temper that he recognized immediately from the prince. “On top that, me turning Super Saiyan today was a fluke! I’ve got no way of controlling it!”

Gohan licked his lips, desperate do have her join the team. “What if I teach you?” She paused her tirade, allowing him to go on. “I’m trying to teach Trunks, but he’s too impulsive. He wants to transform immediately, but he can’t find the trigger.”

Her gaze narrowed at the hybrid as she stated, “So far, you’re not selling me on it.”

“You already know the trigger,” Gohan stated, more emphatically. “I’ve been waiting to take them head on until Trunks could transform and back me up. But if I can help you control it, someone clearly more skilled than Trunks, we could kill them sooner.” Mia nodded along as he spoke, urging him to continue. “Just give me until your mom has recovered. We could destroy them once and for all if we worked together.”

Mia seemed to be debating with herself internally until her shoulders fell, almost resigned as she sighed, “Fine.”

* * *

 

Gohan had never regretted any decision in his life as much as he regretted convincing Mia to train with him and Trunks. Before, Trunks and Gohan would spar in the mornings, take a break around lunch, then in the afternoons try to unlock Trunks’ Super Saiyan form. After Mia joined them, the schedule didn’t change so much, but every five minutes she’d complain or criticize Gohan was doing something wrong, from little things to …

“No wonder Trunks can’t find his trigger. You’re just standing off to the side letting him charge up, which will do _nothing,_ ” Mia remarked behind him as he watched from the sidelines. Gohan didn’t give her the satisfaction of turning to her, mentally repeating his mantra of, _Let it go. It isn’t worth it. Let it go._ It wasn’t just the nagging though. That was only the first phase of why he regretted this decision. “Seriously, what are you teaching him!?” Still, he ignored her. The past two weeks of her nagging was driving Gohan up a wall, yes. But it was nothing compared to the recent torturous odd smell that caused him to have the most explicit thoughts of her. Things he’d never thought of anyone before. “Trunks, what has he taught you?!”

Trunks looked back at the older saiyans confused, his gaze switching between his sister and best friend. Gohan’s glare was focused on the ground as Mia looked at her brother challengingly. “Uuuuh… lots,” he tried.

“Like what?” Mia pressed, stepping around Gohan to enter the clearing. Immediately, he got a whiff of honeysuckle and musk. He closed his eyes and his fist tightened as he readied himself for the mental onslaught the smell seemed to bring. He wasn’t sure why, but the past few days, anytime she got too close, and that smell wafted under his nose, he’d become aroused, imagining having his way with this Saiyan harpy in the most vulnerable positions, screaming his name. It was either that, or fighting her until she submitted to him. That fantasy disgusted him more. _Enough. Let it go._ He let out a calming breath as he tried to refocus.

Gohan growled as he mentally berated himself. Never in his whole life had any woman had this effect on him. Forcing out any sensible thoughts and forcing carnal fantasies into his mind. He didn’t understand this effect she had on him, and a part of him hated her for it. He didn’t think it was possible to be as angry at someone before, but she kept proving him wrong. A part of him had originally thought that only someone evil could make him feel this much hatred, but damn, she came close. “Knock it off,” he growled at her.

“Oh, I exist now?” the Saiyan lady asked sarcastically. Gohan clenched his teeth, ignoring the fantasy playing in the back of his head as his tired gaze fell on her challenging one. _It’s not worth it. Let it go._ Mia turned away from him again in a huff, turning onto Trunks. “Could you fight anyone with what he’s taught you?”

“That’s enough, Mia.” His tone was getting more dangerous, praying this scent didn’t affect Trunks. He’d been trying to keep the siblings separate ever since he noticed the connection between the scent and his thoughts, but it was sacrificing his own sanity at the same time by keeping such close proximity to her.

“Could you fight me with what he’s taught you?” When Trunks couldn’t think of an answer, she pushed further, “Could you defeat me with what he’s taught you?” Trunks looked back at Gohan, still unsure of how to answer his sister. “Don’t look at him. Just answer me. Do you think you could beat me if we fought right now, with what he’s taught you?”

“W-well, I’m not a Super Saiyan like you, so no?” Trunks tried to answer, his eyes still shooting back to his mentor who was glaring uncharacteristically at the newest member in the group.

“Forget Super Saiyan. Could you beat me if we fought right now?”

Gohan’s heart pounded with worry and anger. “I said, ‘Knock it off!’”

Trunks began to power up slowly, ignoring his mentor as he chewed his lip. He was itching for a fight, especially seeing how tense Mia made Gohan, ruining their training. It pissed him off. “You wanna find out?” he asked, his gaze falling on Mia. She wore her crop top and running pants as usual. He’d seen her practicing her kicks, but there were times she would leave him and Gohan to train, probably training herself. But Trunks did remember how easily she fell to Android 18. Maybe she wasn’t as tough as she suggested. Gohan was the strongest person in the world other than the androids. Trunks was almost completely convinced that he could win with what Gohan had taught him. He hit full power as he said, “Let’s go.”

Mia nodded, a smile on her face as she powered herself up. “Let’s,” she said huskily as she settled into her traditional Saiyan fighting stance. Trunks eyed her stance worriedly, but she didn’t give him time to question it as she flew at him, kicking him in the side into a stone pillar.

“Trunks!” Gohan called worriedly.

“He’s fine,” Mia chided, not looking at the dark-haired hybrid as she settled back into her fighting stance. She focused on the pile of rubble created by her brother.

Trunks let out a yell, the pile of rock exploding out around him as he powered up again. He flew back at Mia, throwing punch after punch at her. She blocked each one, then unexpectedly dropped to the ground and threw a leg swipe out, knocking his feet out from under him. He yelped as he began to fall, only to be kicked into the air with her other foot. He winced as he flew up high, only to have Mia phase in front of him, sending him back down with a double-handed smackdown. He plummeted back to the Earth, letting out a yell as he forced his ki out to slow his fall, still landing on his hands and feet.

Mia touched down next to him, shaking her head. “Do you see what I’m talking about?” she called to Gohan. She didn’t look to see if he was listening. She could almost feel his anger rolling off him through the glare he had focused on her. “He hasn’t learned a thing about fighting. Just how to power up,” she criticized, now walking around her hybrid brother. “If it wasn’t me fighting him, but one of the Androids, he’d be dead. Is that what you want?”

Trunks huffed, still on his knees before swinging one leg out as she had done to him before, knocking her legs out from under her. As she landed on her back, Trunks used the momentum of his kick to launch himself on top her, straddling her waist and his hands poised to strike. “Don’t count me out just yet,” he spat to the side, his gums bleeding from her strike.

Mia smirked, quickly flipping them so Trunks was pinned underneath her. Her other hand moved quickly to place a ki blast by his face as she hissed, “This isn’t a videogame. It’s life and death. If you plan to strike, you strike to _kill_.” Trunks squirmed underneath her, his eyes wide at the ki blast less than an inch from his face. Its heat caused him to sweat, and he screwed his eyes shut, fearing she’d actually follow through with it.

Suddenly, Mia was sent flying off him into another pillar, leaving Trunks wide-eyed as Gohan stepped next to him. “I think it’s time you go home, Trunks.” The purple-haired Saiyan let out a heavy sigh he’d been holding, gulping in air behind it as he nodded. The boy got up, wiping his mouth with his sleeve as he flew back to Capsule Corp. Gohan let out a small relieved huff as he realized Trunks wasn’t affected by the smell as he’d originally feared. Just him. He wasn’t sure if that should annoy him or put him at ease.

Gohan’s black eyes fell on Mia’s as she picked herself up, brushing the dirt off her clothes. “If you’re only here to be difficult or scare children, then I suggest you leave.”

“He should be scared,” Mia huffed, standing up straight. “He should be scared shitless that he can’t hold his own long enough to survive. Only the strong survive here.”

Gohan scowled at her, disappointed. His fists clenched at his sides, unable to fathom how those fantasies of her kept dancing around his head. “You sound an awful lot like your father.”

“Must’ve been a wise man,” Mia countered, a sardonic laugh as she added, “because I was referencing Darwinism.”

“He was an asshole who couldn’t see past his own pride,” Gohan stated, ignoring her scientific reference. Yes, he’d studied Darwin when he was younger, and he could appreciate her study of it as well. But that didn’t excuse her behavior. “Now if you’re only here to scare Trunks, then leave.”

“You think he could have beaten me with those moves?” Mia scoffed, stepping closer to the hybrid and eying him curiously. Her gaze burned him up.

“I think he’s a kid!” Gohan snapped at her, his power broiling beneath him, fighting his mind as the scent began to filter into his senses again. She was too close.

Mia nodded, her gaze narrowing on him as she challenged, “Fine. Then you fight me.”

Gohan paused, his brow furrowing as he smiled curiously. A sick sort of hope began to twist in his heart as he asked, “You wanna fight me?” Mia nodded, settling into her Saiyan fighting stance. “Alright then,” he growled. Gohan settled into his own fighting stance. He wouldn’t pull out Super Saiyan yet, just try to sense her skill level, then take out Super Saiyan to finish it. Make her pay for all the frustrations she’d imposed on him. A small smile found its way to his face as he thought, _If I were a couple months older, I’d be the same age as Dad when he fought Vegeta._ The coincidence of it made him feel closer to his Dad in some way. “Whenever you’re ready,” he breathed.

Mia huffed, preparing herself to fight. A breeze wisped between them, kicking up dirt and sand, catching their hair. The breeze died down, and they remained frozen for a pregnant beat before Mia charged forward. Gohan deflected her by spinning on his heel, and shifting her momentum to send her flying past him, expecting her to go further than she actually did. Instead, she did a flip turn, forcing her momentum into her ki, and shooting a blast at him. He dodged it with ease. They phased out and back together, fists flying at each other. They collided together, their clashes making thunderous clamors. The back of his mind screaming that he was stronger than her, that he needed to prove it and make her submit to him. He was getting excited again.

Gohan’s heart pounded at the prospect of meeting his match in Vegeta’s own daughter. Like history was repeating itself in the oddest of ways. Every punch was met with a counter, and they flew through the skies like it was a deadly dance. They threw kicks that sent the other flying. Ki blasts flying after each other, but were easily countered. Eventually, their fight found its way to the destroyed half of West City. With one last punch, they flew apart, each landing on half dilapidated office buildings across the street from each other.

Their breathing was heavy as they paused their fight, their glares focused on each other as they fell into fighting stances. The rain came in slow before turning into a downpour. Neither of them looked away from the other. Mia launched first, using the rain’s low visibility to camouflage her movements, landing a headbutt on his lower chin. He flew back, stopping himself with a yell, charging himself up and snapping into Super Saiyan. He zoomed back at her faster than she could register, spin kicking her at her waist, sending her flying into the building she had previously stood on, the concrete crumbling around the hole she made.

He waited a few moments for her to come out, but she didn’t. He huffed, knowing he’d have to go in and get her. He flew in, his Super Saiyan glow lighting up the room. The cracked concrete, old tarps and bent rebar presented the room as a construction project long forgotten. A darkened doorway led to another room, and Gohan shifted towards it. He saw the puddle on the ground leading to that shadowy entrance, telling him that’s where she went. She dove out at him, fist ready, which he deflected, shifting her momentum into the wall, following closely behind as he pinned her to it.

His breathing was ragged as they stood there, their battle paused as he fought the visions in his mind. She moved her hips slightly to shift control, and he slammed his hand against the wall and cracking it. He growled, “Don’t move.” That action caused him to press into her more as he struggled against his mind. His other hand moved of its own accord, resting on her hip to stop her moving. Her skin was burning, like a fever devouring her from the inside, agony building in her core. Their minds connected, and he could hear her mind screaming, **_JUST DO IT ALREADY!!!_** Another whiff of that honeysuckle musk, and his instincts took over, flooding out his reason.

His lips crashed into hers, and his grip on her hips tightened, kneading her skin as his hips pressed into hers. Her hands snaked their way up his chest and shoulders and into his hair. She gripped his head and neck tight, pulling her legs up to wrap around his waist as she opened her mouth, letting their tongues fight against each other as their ecstasy rose. He stepped back, trying to balance the new weight, but slipped, and fell on his ass. Mia broke their kiss to laugh at him, still straddling his hips, and his brain began to clear for a minute from the pain. The moment of confused clarity found him wide-eyed as she pulled off her crop-top, revealing a lacey black bra supporting considerable sized breasts. The reason half of his mind immediately began asking, _What are you doing!? Stop, and think about this! You’ve only known her for …_

Mia’s lips crashed against his again, drowning out his reason as her scent filled his senses again. His instinct took over again as his hands roamed over her, digging themselves into her skin under her bra hooks. She moaned at the contact, and the sound made him hard. She pulled off his shirts feverishly, getting a little help from him as he felt the need for more contact. His hands skimmed over her back, this time heading south for better grip on her. His hands slipped under the waistband of her pants and brushed something furry. He pulled out her tail, his hand running with the fur as she let out an ecstatic gasp, grinding her hips into his. Whatever remained of his reasoning was obliterated by her groan and friction. He flipped them, pinning her to the cold concrete ground as he pawed at her pants yanking them down as she squirmed, kicking off her boots. Her hands untied the blue band belt holding up his pants. Soon they were down to nothing, her legs wrapped around his waist, positioning him at her entrance.

A shiver ran down his spine, bringing him back to reality once again. _This isn’t right! This is Vegeta’s daughter. You hate her!_ Gohan’s ragged breathing slowed as his mind started to clear again. This wasn’t right. This would confuse everything he understood about himself, his feelings, _love_. Yes, he’d fantasized about her. But it wasn’t him, and it wasn’t something he would actually do. So why was he doing this now? They didn’t have protection. What if she got pregnant? What if …

 ** _Did anyone ever tell you, “You think too much?”_** His eyes were wide as she posed the question in his head, like they shared a mind. When he read her mind earlier, he didn’t think that she would be able to do the same back.

 _I’m sorry,_ he thought, his muscles pulling himself back a little.

She understood the tone, letting out a growl as she pushed him away with her foot, rolling out from under him. She grabbed her clothes, silently and deftly, forgoing putting her underwear back on for expediency’s sake. Without their bra to support, the bottom of her breasts hung out of her crop top as she laced up her boots, huffing and shaking her head and cursing her luck. Gohan sheepishly redressed as he said again, “I’m sorry.”

“Shove it,” she grumbled, dropping her last laced-up booted foot with a thud as she stood. Gohan let the silence linger as she walked to the opening, the one she’d made when he sent her plummeting into the building, where she stopped. “For the record,” she started, her disdain dripping from her voice as she turned, seeing him holding his shirts, his thumb and forefinger rub circles around the white kanji for “Turtle.” Her seething gaze found his innocent one as she continued, “Hybrids _can’t_ have kids. So, you couldn’t impregnate me if you tried. And Two, ‘ _hate_ ’ is a _very_ strong word for someone you _begged_ to have on your team!” His gaze fell from hers to the ground, almost shamefully, as she let out a derisive snort, and zoomed off into the sky. Chewing the bottom of his lip, unsure of everything now, he pulled on his shirts and flew back to the training grounds to blow off steam by blasting rocks.

* * *

 

The next day, Gohan’s mind kept drifting back to Mia and what happened the day before, unable to focus on anything. Trunks even managed to get him a few times in their morning spar. They sat down on a cliff, watching the clouds roll by. Gohan’s right knee was propped up, his arm resting on it as Trunks dangled his legs over the side, kicking at nothing. “So, what happened yesterday?” Trunks asked, his squeaky tone full of curiosity.

Gohan frowned at the teenager, not sure what he was getting at. “Hmm?”

“After I left,” Trunks asked. “Did you and Mia have a fight?”

Gohan slowly blinked at him before a small smile came to his face as he looked off, “What made you think that?”

Trunks gestured to the empty space around them as he stated, “Well, she’s not here.” He let the statement hang in the air before adding, “Kinda seems like you said something to piss her off.” Gohan remained uncharacteristically silent at the second comment, rubbing his middle finger and thumb together in thought. “Did you?”

“Did I what?” Gohan asked, pretending he hadn’t been listening.

Trunks shot a glare at his master, asking, “Did you do something to piss her off?”

Gohan frowned, looking away as he muttered, “More like didn’t do.”

Trunks eyed him more strangely this time as he asked, “Huh?”

Gohan ignored it, patting Trunks’ shoulder as he said, “I think we’re good today. Why don’t you head on home, and I’ll see you tomorrow.” Trunks still eyed his master oddly, still feeling a little out of the loop at what happened the day before. But he wasn’t one to ignore orders, so stood and began to fly back to the city.

Gohan’s gaze focused on the passing clouds as he thought, wondering what he should have done. If he made the right call. If Mia wasn’t coming back. He prayed she would. They needed her and her mother, and if she wasn’t training with them over hurt feelings, Gohan needed to rectify that. Sometimes, he wondered how his father had become friends with Vegeta in the first place. Yeah, he respected him, but that didn’t automatically equal friendship. Still, something needed to be done, and if she was as stubborn as her father, he’d need to make the first move.

Gohan pushed out his senses, focusing on finding her ki signature. She didn’t know about suppressing her power level, so finding her was fairly easy. She was somewhere ten miles south from the Orange Star City outskirts. It didn’t take him long to get there either. He was confused to find her at a small farm with a one-story house and a large fenced in pasture. He sensed her in the large red barn on one end next to the pasture gate, and he followed. He landed at the barn doors at the bottom, hearing her voice and a distressed mooing cow.

“Come on. Just work with me here,” she huffed, her voice slightly strained.

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to walk in on when he found her but it wasn’t what he found. Mia was not wearing her usual clothes, instead opting for overalls and an old ratty t-shirt that definitely didn’t fit her, as it hung off her body making her appear smaller. She did have her hair pulled back in a braid, away from her face and the mess. She had plastic gloves all the way up to her shoulders, and her hands were inside the cow’s backside as it mooed, struggling against her. Mia began to pull her hands out, holding onto a pair of calf feet, blood and viscous fluid bubbling out around them. “I know, it hurts. But you got this, Mama,” Mia encouraged as she reached back in with one hand to help guide the calf’s hind legs out first. The cow huffed a few times, clearly tired. Mia rested her left hand just above the cow’s tail, her hand glowing with ki as she rubbed its fur with her bloody glove. The cow seemed to calm, letting out another loud moo as more of the calf came out, it’s shoulders presented and begun to slip from its mother. Mia was quick to grab the infant around its waist, gently laying it on the ground as she removed the amniotic sack, clipping and tying its umbilical cord. The cow let out another loud moo before delivering the placenta in a large bloody plop, causing his stomach to turn uncomfortably.

The calf let out a bleat as it tried to wiggle out of her grasp, earning its mother’s attention as the cow moved to lick and clean her young. Mia carried the calf into a nearby stall with fresh hay covering the floor, then led the mother in with it. The mother cow tended to her infant, licking it clean and nudging it to stand as Mia closed the large iron gate. She watched the new mother and baby as she commented, “A little too much for ya’?” She shot a smirk at the pale hybrid before turning back to the calf as it made its first failing attempt to stand.

“I didn’t see you as a cattle hand,” Gohan eventually coughed out.

Mia shrugged with an understanding laugh. “Usually, they can handle themselves. But the calf was presenting dorsally, so I had to step in,” she explained. The calf finally tried one more time, standing up firmly, taking a few unsteady steps to its mother, as she kept licking her baby down. Mia let out a sigh, stepping away from the gate with a proud nod as she took off the gloves, dumping them in a bio hazard bin with some of the bloody straw. She walked up to him, curiosity in her eyes as she asked, “So, what are you doing here?”

He blinked at her awkwardly before replying, “You weren’t at training today. I thought it might have been …” he trailed off, not sure how to finish the sentence. As she stepped closer to him, he still noticed her honeysuckle musk smell, but it was overpowered by the scent of blood and amniotic fluid, and he suppressed a gag.

She frowned at him, before looking down at her overalls, seeing them stained with blood. “Why don’t I go get changed, and then we can do lunch.” He followed her back to the house, giving her some space for the smell. She kicked off her boots outside the front door on the porch, then stepped inside, unclasping her overalls as he took off his boots, leaving them by the front door. As she stepped out of her overalls, rolling them up for the wash, she caught his eyes, wide again as he watched her undress. “What?” she asked agitatedly, her tail twitching in the air. He looked away to a ceiling corner awkwardly, and she rolled her eyes. “Not like you didn’t see it all yesterday,” she muttered sarcastically. She walked back down a hallway, which led to four doors, two rooms facing the front, one off to the side of the house, and one to the back. She opened the door on the back end of the house, leading to a bathroom. The sound of a shower starting up drifted down the hall and Gohan saw her dirty clothes fly out of the bathroom, landing in a heap on the floor. She left the door open as she pulled the shower curtain shut, and the sound of the water became muddled, suggesting she was in.

Gohan’s fingers twitched as he was unsure of what to do.

“The people who used to own this place,” Mia called out, freezing him in his spot at the end of the hallway as he listened, watching the steam drift out of the bathroom door. “They were the ones who took my Mom in when she landed here. Frank and Mia Shepherd. We kept in touch after my mom got her job in the Orange Star PD and moved out. And after high school, I needed a job, and they offered a spot helping handle the cows, which not to brag, I was pretty good at. They’d gotten too old to handle them themselves, and their son lived in East City as a stock broker. Being a Saiyan helped a lot with the manual labor they needed, and I got a steady paycheck. They died a few years back, and their son gave me the farm, saying the cows were his parents’ thing and he’d just end up selling them. So, Mom and I moved back in, and the rest is history.” She turned off the water, and padded out, a white towel wrapped around her torso covering her up.

She didn’t look at him as she walked to the door he was standing next to, opening it up to reveal a light green bedroom. The bed was solid wood with a matching dresser/mirror set. She shut the door, leaving it only a crack open as she got dressed, which didn’t take her too long. She was back out in her high-waisted jeans, long sleeve crop-top, and braiding her hair back into place as she walked past him to the kitchen. Again, he got that whiff of honeysuckle musk, stronger now that she was clean, and he braced himself for the images. He moved robotically back to the main area, doing his best to ignore the tantalizing fantasies whirring through his head, even more in detail now after yesterday’s experience.

Mia opened the fridge, looking for anything she could put together for them, finding three large frozen pizzas. “Pizza good?” She called back to him, earning a small affirming grunt from the hybrid as he sat down at the table. She set the ovens’ temperature and chuckled, knowing what was running through his mind now. Mia had long learned the birds and bees to Saiyan mating rituals and biology. The prudish culture around Earth did muddle the normal Saiyan mating processes, though, which was clearly what he had struggled with the previous night.

She ripped open the pizza packages, and put them into the ovens. She went back to the fridge, and grabbed a hard cider, calling back to him, “You want something to drink? I’ve got beer, cider, water, and hetap.”

“Water,” he said as he cleared his throat awkwardly.

She grabbed one of the water bottles, and tossed it to him before sitting down, popping the top off her cider and taking a sip. They were quiet for a minute before she said, “You know those aren’t going to go away.” He frowned at her, urging to continue. “The explicit thoughts running through your head,” she added, pointing her bottle at him. She shrugged looking out the front window as she lifted the bottle back to her lips as she said, “Not until you bang them out, at least.” And she took another sip.

His frown shifted to a disappointed glare at her crassness again. “How do you know what’s running through my head?”

She swallowed, a smirk appearing on her face as she said, “Other than seeing them yesterday?” When he kept glaring at her, she smiled and added, “It’s basic Saiyan biology. Saiyan men are hardwired to only think of fighting and competition, until a Saiyan woman in heat comes along, and reminds them they have dicks.”

He decided to ignore her vulgarity, and focus instead on the information she provided. “So, you’re in heat?” She nodded. “Like a dog, in heat?”

It was her turn to frown at him as she said, “You can see yourself out,” pointing to the door.

“Sorry,” he sighed, leaning forward on the table. “This is just new to me.”

The oven dinged, and she waved him off, as she stated, “I understand. It’s new to me, too.” He frowned at that reply as she left to go pull the pizzas out of the oven. “Humans don’t pick up on our scent. So, I’ve had over a decade practicing controlling my urges when I go in heat, but only to a certain extent,” She added as she cut up the pizzas into eighths. She grabbed two paper plates from one of the upper cupboards, placing three slices on each plate. They could go get more when needed, as she assumed they would. She placed his plate in front of him unceremoniously, falling into her own seat. She grabbed a piece off her plate and took a bite. Gohan did the same cautiously, pleasant surprise showing on his face as its taste hit him.

“So, how long does it last,” he asked carefully. “How often?”

“Once a month, three days,” she answered around her pizza. He nodded sagely, noting today would be the last day. “I don’t know about the pheromones’ effect on you, though.”

“What do you mean?”

She swallowed her bite, gesturing to her hair. “I don’t know when the scent exactly wears off. The fever lasts three days.”

“Oh,” he sighed, frowning at his third slice. That did put a damper on things. His mind drifted back to the effect the smell had on him, wondering if it was worth the risk to bring her back to train. He remembered Trunks didn’t have any issues with it. “Why doesn’t it effect Trunks?”

She shrugged, figuring the question was bound to come up. “He’s related to me by blood, being my brother. I don’t know why, but it doesn’t smell the same the closer related you are to someone. My mom usually tells me to shower _way_ more often when I’m in heat, because I smell so bad to her. Vice Versa. But being the same sex does make the smell worse too.” She polished off her third piece, gesturing to the pizzas, asking, “You want more?” He nodded, handing her his plate. She grabbed them each another three pieces, and settled back down.

“So, I’m the only one who’d be affected by it?” he surmised as he took another big bite.

Mia shrugged, placing her pizza back on the plate and smiling evilly as she asked, “I dunno. You got any brothers?”

He laughed at her joke, the first time he’d laughed in a long time. It was a buoyant sound that he almost didn’t recognize, and he realized he’d missed that feeling. She laughed with him, hers more of a dainty chuckle as she took another bite. His eyes reached hers, while she was smiling, he could still sense her hunger in them. Her fever devouring her from the inside shone through her eyes with a spirited fire. He scooted a little closer to her, and she mirrored his movements, her scent filling his senses. Except this time, he welcomed it a little, enjoying the vision of her mewling his name a little more than he had the past couple days. He knew he didn’t love her, but he was more than tempted to give into her now that he found out more about what was going on. And her eyes told him she wanted him badly.

“Three days, once a month,” he breathed huskily.

She breathed, almost reading his mind through his eyes, knowing he was considering following through this time. “Only if you don’t hate me,” she whispered equally as husky.

Their lips were inches apart as he said, “I _don’t_ hate you.” They closed the distance between them, his lips landing on hers, and felt her roaring hunger for him as she immediately deepened the kiss, licking and caressing his tongue with hers as her fingers found their way into his hair again. _I’ve never actually done this before,_ he thought, knowing he’d follow through this time.

**_Same, but it doesn’t matter._ **

She sifted through his mind, seeing the fantasies he had of her, and smiled into the kiss. **_They’d be doable._** A pang of excitement burst through him, and he surprised her as he lifted her up bridal style, carrying her back to her bedroom and placing her on the bed. She helped yank off his shirts, tossing them across the room, then doing the same with her shirt. His heart pounded as he took in her chest again; it was a marvel. His hands roved over her skin, enjoying her pleasure coursing through her in waves at his touch. His fingers slipped under the underwire of her bra, feeling the mounds of flesh, her heart pounding through them. He hardened as he felt her nipples perk up under his attention. Her bra was a lacy front clasp that she easily undid, her breasts springing forward as he helped ease the lacy fabric away to take in her bare chest. She untied his pants feverishly, letting them pool at his ankles. He stepped out of them, lifting and positioning her further on her bed, climbing onto it, nestling his hips between her legs, grinding into her groin. She let out a moan as she bucked against him, struggling to pull off her pants. He helped her pull them down, his fingers sliding under the waistband of her panties. He slid them down, not noticing her tail snaking its way up his boxers until it wrapped around his dick, squeezing and unsqueezing it, stealing his breath away. As soon as he discarded her underwear, he grabbed her tail, earning a moan as he slid his hand down it, disentangling it from his member. He pinned her tail down to the bed, listening to her desperate pants as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

She shifted their weight, throwing herself on top of him. She gave him another smooch, grinding against him a little before trailing kisses down his face, neck, chest, and abs, her fingers playing with his boxer waistband. Slowly, she pulled it down, letting his manhood spring forth, smiling as she replayed one of the fantasies he’d had. She smiled as her hand wrapped around the base of his cock, licking the head before pulling it into her mouth, letting her tongue wrap around it twice as he let out a gasp. She pulled him out of her mouth with a pop, sliding back up to his face, positioning his member at her entrance, teasing his head with it.

His hands ran up from her hips to her waist, flipping her back underneath him. His lips crashed into hers as he pushed his member in, enjoying the tight slippery feel of her as he fully sheathed himself in her. He pulled out excruciatingly slow as their tongues danced against each other before sliding back in. One of her hands made its way back to the base of his skull, the other gripped at his back, pushing him to keep going.

His mind searched hers for her needs, his hand traveling down to a much-neglected bundle of nerves, his thumb finding it easily with her mental guidance, and she let out a howl of pleasure. He grinned with pride at her reaction to his ministrations, settling into a beat he felt she enjoyed as much as him, his thumb rubbing her with the movements of his hips. “Oh. Goha … Ah … AH,” here voice pitch climbed as he felt her orgasm building, his not so far behind. “Ah… Go … ha-AH!” He could feel her peaking as she let out a final high-pitched scream as her orgasm rippled through her, starting with her pussy clamping down on his cock, the pressure causing his own peak to arrive sooner than he thought. The pressure of his ejaculate into her pushed her into an immediate second orgasm. He rode into her, his mouth pressing into hers as their ecstasy was magnified by the others. As the effects of her orgasm wore off, he slowed to a stop, but not pulling out just yet as they breathed, gasping for air as if they’d just finished sparring.

Both of them feeling tender, he carefully ejected himself from her, rolling off her to the side, his eyes focused on the ceiling as he panted, blinking as his mind filed away all the intricacies to what just happened.

She slapped his chest lightly with the back of her hand as she asked breathlessly, “You good?”

He smiled wide as he panted, “Yeah. I’m great.”

“Good,” she sighed, her naked form sidling up against his as she rested her head on his chest comfortably. His arm wrapped around her shoulders naturally as he did his best to calm his breathing and his heart. Through her skin, he could feel her body humming contentedly, still feeling some of her orgasms after effects.

As her face fell relaxed, he could see her resemblance to Vegeta, especially in her brow. His mind drifted to what people would think about them, maybe not together, but engaging in such behavior. His mother would care a little, telling him to marry her probably. Maybe his father would have done the same, but would have pushed for marriage a little less. The one reaction that brought a grin to his face was Vegeta.

Mia caught him as he tried to suppress his chuckles. “How _would_ my father react to us mating?” she asked, one of her fingers drawing lazy circles on his chest.

“He’s probably rolling in his grave,” Gohan thought, thinking back to the open disdain Vegeta showed him between Namek and the androids.

Mia read his mind, seeing his memories of her father. Beating up Gohan at five, just because his father died after achieving the Super Saiyan form. Calling him a weakling because he chose not to train with Kakarot once he returned from space. Lording over his rank after Kakarot succumbed to the heart virus as being the prince of all three saiyans, including Trunks. But because Gohan was the son of low class Saiyan scum, that made him the most worthless. She sensed there was more, but she felt it was enough. “Wow,” she huffed, “He was an asshole.”

Gohan paused, unsure of how to respond. A part of him agreed, but another part wasn’t in the habit of speaking ill of the dead. She pushed herself up to face him as she said, “If he couldn’t handle this arrangement between us, then fuck him.” She gave him a peck on the lips as she swung her legs out, hopping off the bed nimbly as she sighed, “I’m going to get some pizza.” She almost skipped to the kitchen, feeling the endorphins from their romp coursing through her.

His gaze followed her in a happy confusion. _Arrangement?_ Gohan thought, slowly getting up from the bed. He paused standing at the doorway, halfway into the hall, still completely naked. “Is that what this is?” he called to her. She leaned back, peeking to him, her mouth full of pizza. Her face was quizzical as she chewed. “An arrangement?”

She shrugged, swallowing her food before asking, “Well, what would you call it? It’s not a relationship.” She leaned back over the table, her butt and tail peeking into the hallway now as she grabbed another slice to eat. He suppressed the urge play with it.

“It’s not?” he asked. Still unsure of the protocol in the current situation, but it was his understanding any sexual relations was a relationship. Whatever level that was, though, he wasn’t sure.

Mia laughed at his naiveite. “No. If this was a legit relationship, we’d probably kill each other.” She stepped back into the hallways, bringing him some pizza as she munched on her own two slices. He didn’t turn it down, as now he was hungrier than before they did the deed. “No, this is definitely a ‘friends with benefits’ arrangement,” she explained as she ate. “You still train me to master Super Saiyan. And when we get so mad we want to kill each other, we fuck instead.”

He blinked at her slowly, not really believing what he was hearing. While he agreed with her one hundred percent on them wanting to kill each other, as he’d thought about it multiple times within the past couple weeks, a part of him was confused on how nonchalant she was about them having sex at all. They did just lose their virginity to each other. Usually woman got emotional or attached, at least that was what he’d been told.

 _Maybe sex isn’t as serious to Saiyans,_ he mused, watching her casually eat pizza stark naked in her hallway.

She got a weird look on her face as she added, “You weren’t expecting something more serious, were you?” He shook his head no, and bit into his pizza. “Good,” she sighed. “Humans get so weird about sex.”

Gohan frowned again, eyeing her strangely. “I thought you said you hadn’t …”

“Oh, no,” she said, realizing the insinuation of what she’d said. “I hadn’t ever, _you know_ … But in school, people thought I did because of one asshole. That’s when I realized Humans are really prudish, you know? Like, if it was Planet Vegeta, literally no one would have cared,” she explained, then she frowned thinking about it, adding, “Well, maybe me, being a female in the royal line. But otherwise, no.”

A phone ringing back in the living room drew their attention, and she wolfed down the last of her pizza, as she made her way to the living room. Gohan suppressed a grin as he noted her altered walk, knowing he’d take a lasting effect on her. She picked up the phone. “Hello.” Pause. “Are you looking for Goha -- Oh. Uh … Yeah. Yeah, he’s here.”

Gohan frowned, mouthing to her, _“Who is it?”_

 _“Bulma,”_ she mouthed back.

“Yeah. Ok. … Yeah. I gotta check on something first, but I’ll be right there.” Pause. “Yeah, I’ll see you in a bit. … Wait, how did you get this number?” Click. She frowned at the phone before putting it back in its cradle.

“What was that about?” Gohan asked, as Mia briskly made her way back to her room, grabbing her discarded clothes, putting them on quickly. She picked up some of his too, throwing them at him.

“We need to go,” Mia huffed as she tugged on her shirt. She looked up seeing Gohan still standing in her doorway, naked and awkwardly holding his gi with confusion. “Are you gonna get dressed, or are you just going to stand there?”

He frowned, pulling his clothes on as he asked, “What’s with the urgency?”

Mia struggled into her pants and fastened them before she answered, “Mom woke up.” She snatched up her boots, quickly pulling them on almost in stride. “Let’s go.”


	2. Part Two: Lux Aeterna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: All Dragon Ball content is owned by Toei Animation, Funimation, FujiTV, and Akira Toriyama.
> 
> Please remember to review!

**Part Two: _Lux Aeterna_**

_Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine._ “May eternal light shine upon them, O Lord.”

 

Siyaka sat at the table, eyeing the family dinner dynamic they put on oddly. The blue-haired woman seemed to be nice enough, but at the same time, Siyaka sensed she felt guilty about something. The purple-haired teen chowed down on his food with the gusto of a Saiyan. The blue haired lady had explained that he was a Saiyan-Earthling hybrid, as well as his master, so Siyaka wasn’t too perplexed about them. However, she was perplexed by the strange vibes she got between her own daughter, Mia, and the orange clad young man she introduced as Gohan. When Mia had returned with the man, Siyaka noted that they smelled similar. Too similar. She could usually smell Mia in heat, which reeked to her, like the strongest musk had been dumped on her. But the smell rolled off Gohan in waves as well. Yet both were acting as if nothing was unusual.

_Do they think I’m an idiot?_

Dinner was quiet as they ate, until Mia paused, announcing, “We got a new calf today. He’s got reddish orange fur, really pretty. I was thinking of naming him Pumbukin.”

Siyaka nodded, her fork pushing her rice around with her good hand, eyeing her daughter conspicuously. _Well, they won’t think I’m an idiot for long,_ she mused. She crossed her arms, careful about holding her left arm which was suspended in a sling, and sat back in her chair as she stated, “I’m more interested on when you started fucking the hybrid.”

Gohan choked then spat his mouthful of rice all over Trunks who stared back at his master in wide-eyed shock, his gaze shifting slowly to Mia in disbelief. Mia stared at her mother blankly, leaning over to pat Gohan on the back to make sure he was ok. Siyaka grinned at the man’s uncomfortable guilt, as he found the grain of wood of the table very interesting instead. Bulma blanched as she looked at Mia and Gohan’s reactions, slowly handing her son a napkin to wipe the rice away from his face.

“Did you honestly think I wouldn’t pick up on that?” Siyaka asked with a smirk on her daughter, who moved to mirror her stance.

“I didn’t think you would bring it up at dinner,” Mia snarked back.

Siyaka looked at Bulma now, asking, “How long have I been out again?”

“Two weeks,” she stated.

 _“Two weeks,_ ” Siyaka reiterated, her gaze falling back to her daughter disapprovingly. “I thought you were better than that.”

Mia’s eyebrows almost shot to her hairline as she scoffed, “That’s rich, coming from you.”

Siyaka didn’t want to open that can of worms, instead turning to Gohan asking, “Are you at least being safe?”

Gohan let out a broken, “Uuuuh…”

“Dear God, Mom. He’s a hybrid. I’m not going to end up like you,” Mia stated, pursing her lips as she realized the harshness of her words just after they tumbled out of her mouth. Her mom didn’t look at her as Mia said, “Oh God, Mom. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean …”

Siyaka held up a silencing hand as she stood from the table. She took in a deep breath before saying, “As long as you know what you’re getting into.” She wiped her mouth with her napkin and dropping it on the table as she said, “Excuse me.” She left, flying back towards Orange Star. Mia quickly flew after her, leaving Gohan, Bulma, and Trunks in stunned silence at the dinner table.

“I can’t believe you’re screwing my sister,” Trunks breathed, his appetite gone. Gohan’s face burned red.

“Trunks, go to your room,” Bulma stated, her gaze not leaving Gohan’s. The teen hybrid didn’t argue this time. As soon as they heard his door slam shut, Bulma let out a sigh, getting up from the table as she said, “You need a drink? I need a drink.”

“Uh – no. I’m good,” Gohan answered slowly, but Bulma already placed two lowball glasses on the table with ice, and sat down, opening up a bottle of whiskey and pouring some into both glasses.

Bulma took a sip, murmuring, “That hits the spot,” before placing the glass back on the table. Gohan wasn’t sure what to do as he watched the scientist, for some reason feeling like a little kid again. “You know, I didn’t think I’d ever feel _this old_ ,” Bulma sighed, fingering the rim of her glass before settling her gaze on Gohan.

“I’m sorry – ?” Gohan asked, a little confused. Bulma was fourty-six.

“It’s just, I remember seeing you for the first time as an unsure toddler, just over four,” she explained, swirling her whiskey in its glass. “That’s how I’ve always seen you. As a kid. And here you are, twenty-three, and I just missed that you grew up.”

Gohan blinked at her, unsure of how to respond to that. Yes, he’d grown up. The past thirteen years had been difficult between the androids and the heart virus. They’d lost almost everyone, and he had to grow up quick because of it. He hadn’t been a kid in a long time, but now he could see Bulma was treating him like an adult for the first time.

“I know I’m not your mother, and that you’re old enough to decide things for yourself, but I still feel it’s my responsibility to make sure,” Bulma started again, this time looking at him. “Because I remember before you father married ChiChi, there were always girls wanting him, and he was too clueless to notice.” Gohan’s brow shot up at the information, but Bulma continued on, “Are you and Mia … is it serious?”

Gohan frowned, looking at the glass. _Yeah, this conversation might require some alcohol._ He took a small sip. He winced as the whiskey burned its way to his stomach, warming his body as it moved. He let out a small cough before answering, “No … At least I don’t think so.” Bulma raised an eyebrow at his response. “We’ve only done it the one time.” He took another sip, sensing Bulma wasn’t finished yet.

“But you plan on doing it _more_ ,” Bulma filled in, her eyes on him like he was a machine she was trying to figure out.

An emphatic “Yes” was the answer, but he couldn’t actually voice it. Instead he downed the last of his whiskey, setting the empty glass down on the table.

Bulma nodded as if she read his mind, grabbing the bottle and pouring him some more. He took the glass back, but didn’t drink, deciding to wait for her to ask another question. She took a deep breath as she asked, “And you’re using … _You know how_ to use a contraceptive?”

He blinked slowly around wide eyes as he processed what she asked, a part of his mind realizing Vegeta probably didn’t, resulting in Trunks and Mia. He took a deep calming breath, taking another sip before placing the glass down. “I know how to use them, but no we didn’t,” he stated, and Bulma’s face fell to disappointment. Gohan ignored her as he continued, “We didn’t because I can’t have kids.” He saw her face morph again to show her confusion. “I’m a hybrid between two different species.”

She closed her eyes, her expression full of understanding and pity. “Of course,” she breathed, “Sorry. I should have realized.”

“It’s ok,” he stated, looking at the amber liquid in his glass. He was angry about the news at first, but he’d made peace with it after thinking about it. The world being the way it was now, bringing a kid into it was almost cruel.

Bulma sighed, pursing her lips. “Well, the only other issue as making sure it doesn’t interfere with your time with Trunks.” Gohan shot her a confused look, and she waved him off, stating, “I’m not sure what brought on this relationship. Because as long as I’ve known you, you just didn’t seem the type to just have sex with a woman.” Gohan blushed again. “And maybe that’s just because you’ve always been a kid to me, which clearly you’re not anymore because you now have … urges …” she was rambling now, blushing as well. She shook her head, sorting her thoughts back into place as she continued, “Whatever urges you feel, I want you to promise me they’ll be in check when Trunks is with you.” When Gohan was still confused by what she was saying, she affirmed, “I want you to limit yours and Mia’s PDA when Trunks is around. Understand?”

“Of course,” Gohan replied, still a little confused that she would think it would be a problem. He’d lost his virginity, not become an animal.

“Good,” Bulma sighed, downing the last of her drink.

* * *

 

The next few months seemed to fly by, and Gohan couldn’t help but think the arrangement between him and Mia had helped it. They’d moved their training location closer to Orange Star City, and some days, Trunks helped Mia with the cows as a means of training. And Trunks’s skills seemed to be improving some thanks to that. He’d become more agile and was able to think on his feet more than before, and sometimes bested Gohan in sparring matches. But never for long.

And on days like today, when Mia had been a particular pain, they had built a routine.

“Trunks, I think it’s time for you to go,” Gohan stated, his face in a half smirk and a half glare on Mia. She returned the same expression, her excitement gleaming in her eyes at what was about to happen. That look always made his heart pound with an odd sort of pleased anticipation. He could practically feel her on him already, awakening parts of him that had never been explored before.

Trunks rolled his eyes, wiping the mud off his face from his spar with Mia as he walked away from the older saiyans, muttering, “Jeez. Can’t you two keep it in your pants for once?” Beyond that he didn’t argue as he flew off. The first two weeks of training with Mia had been tense, but since she and Gohan had been blowing off their steam in other ways, the tension between the two during training had eased. He had noticed a marked difference in animosity between the two every day after they’d send him home early. Tomorrow would be no different.

“So, was that just for me, or were you serious?” Gohan asked. She’d been particularly nasty to Trunks again about not getting his transformation, telling him he was holding them back.

Mia raised an eyebrow at him, a trickster’s smile playing on her lips. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied innocently.

He zoomed in front of her, pinning her to the fence. “Don’t play dumb with me.”

She kicked him off her, setting him back a few paces as her power rose. She settled into a fighting stance and he quirked an eyebrow. This wasn’t their usual routine, but he settled into a fighting stance all the same. “I’m not sure what you’re playing at, but you know you can’t beat me,” Gohan laughed haughtily.

She smirked, “That’s where you’re wrong.” She balled up her fists and let out a yell as her aura flared to golden flames. Her hair lifted and changed to light blond, and her eyes flickered to green. Gohan’s heart pounded with excitement. She’d mastered her transformation.

He powered up, mirroring her transformation with his own. “If that’s how you want this to go,” he smiled, the wind from his aura whipping around him. Their auras danced together like two roaring flames licking at each other, feeding off each other’s energy. Their senses heightened in this state made it easier to catch her movements as she phased to his side with a kick, which he blocked with a smile. She was grinning excitedly too. They trade blows, fists flying at fists, kicks met with blocks. Jabs, dodges, parries, rebounds, and chops formed into a sort of deadly dance between the two super saiyans. Their connections making loud thunderous claps in the fields as they drove apart and rammed together with their blows. It was the most fun Gohan had had since his father first came back from Yardrat, a somber reminder of how things had changed.

Mia used that moment to knock Gohan off balance, tripping him into the outdated, and long un-used, truck. Before he could reposition himself, she pinned him to its cold metal with a victorious smirk with a ki-laced chop placed at his neck. “I win,” she breathed laboredly.

He gulped in air as he gave her a small agreeable nod. “You win,” he conceded.

“ _What_ do I win?” Mia asked, this time her tone held a little lust.

Gohan rested a hand on her bare hip, connecting their minds as he searched her mind for her desired prize. He could feel the beginnings of her fever starting, a feeling he’d gotten somewhat used to over the past few months. Her scent would be stronger in the morning, but right now he could barely smell the honeysuckle musk he’d learned to enjoy. He planted a kiss on her lips as more of her fantasies flooded his mind. He’d settled on his own plan as he picked Mia up, placing her on the hood of the truck.

**_You’re sure?_ **

_You won_ , he replied, moving his hand down to unbutton her pants as she relaxed back, letting him do as he wished, both knowing this was just the opening ceremonies to the evening. He slipped his hand under her waistband and into her panties, cupping her womanhood as his fingers found their way down. Her breath hitched as he slipped in one finger, lubricating it with her juices. He slipped it out, trailing it back up to the little bud he’d learned to take good care of. She hissed as he rubbed it gently, feeling her ecstasy pooling out of her as the area drenched itself in juices. Her legs slipped open wide, giving him better access as he slid his fingers back down into her, two this time, his thumb continuing the circles around her sensitive bud. She cried out, and Gohan silenced her with another kiss as he continued to push his fingers in an out. He didn’t mind her grabbing a fistful of his hair as the ecstatic pressure within her peaked and burst. She screamed her pleasure into him as her orgasm rippled through her, causing her to thrash against him. His hand controlled her movements a little as he helped her ride out her orgasm’s affects, one of which was dropping out of super Saiyan, another was the overwhelming rush of her honeysuckle musk. As he pulled away from her panting form, he grinned humorously, noting she’d dented the metal of the car with her thrashing.

That was something he’d learned the last couple months. Sex was more humorous and quirky than gritty and romantic. And this new found heightened super Saiyan senses sex was definitely something he wanted to discover more of. Her orgasm this time had been more powerful than any of the others before. With his clean hand, he grabbed hers, attempting to pull her down from the car.

“Stop,” she breathed between gasps of air, her voice raw from the scream. “Just … gimme … a minute.” He quirked a curious eyebrow at her seemingly weak form.

_Nothing’s hurt, right?_

**_I-I don’t think I can move,_** she thought, wincing as she held back a laugh. **_And I am_ sooo _thirsty…_**

_What if I carry you?_

**_Yes. That would be nice._ **

He nodded, picking her up, and slinging her over his shoulder. She kicked a little at him, earning a small giggle from him as she huffed, “What? No! This isn’t what I had in mind!” she yelled at his back.

“I know,” he chuckled back as he walked her back to the house, giving her a nice view of his ass as he walked. “But at least we learned one thing.”

“What?” she snapped annoyedly.

“You can still move.”

She spanked him, and he yelped in surprise jokingly. She laughed.

* * *

 

After they had some water, that evening consisted of a round of sex, rotisserie chickens for dinner, and some drinks that resulted in more sex. The sun had set, and the stars glittered in the night sky as he pulled himself out of her, collapsing next to her, just as out of breath as she was. Even though his body protested, he moved to get out of her bed and get his things until she reached around for his left arm. “Stay,” she breathed. His eyes went a little wide at the demand. Usually, they had a no sleepover policy. “It’s late,” she sighed tiredly. He looked at her clock, noting it was eleven thirty at night. He remembered when they’d first started, she’d sent him home at midnight one time. But several months had passed since then. Maybe she didn’t mind as much anymore.

He nodded, not really wanting to leave either. It was always such a pain to go back home after one of their nights. His stamina would be sapped, meaning he couldn’t fly well until it was recovered. That usually left him walking for several minutes before he was recovered enough to fly home. And when he’d get home, he’d crash in bed.

He lifted the covers, slipping back into her bed next to her, and settled down to a comfortable position with ease. She snuggled up next to him, finding comfort in the crook of his arm, her head using his chest as a pillow, and they fell fast asleep.

The sound of the front door opening and shutting woke him. As his senses snapped into an alerted mode until he heard the coffee machine in the kitchen turn on, and whoever walked in grabbed one of the mugs from the cupboard and turned on either a radio or tv on low. He heard Mia’s soft snores next to him, and his attention drifted to her, surprised by the shift in their positions through the night. At some point they ended up spooning, her whole naked form pressed against his, her hair pooling under his cheek. The honeysuckle musk had gotten much stronger as he breathed it in, closing his eyes as the fantasies began to play again. _That’s dangerous_. He carefully extricated himself from behind her, slipping out of the bed as he got a look at the clock, which read five a.m.

He stared at her sleeping form, and his heart warmed at the sight. Her expression oddly peaceful. She appeared almost human with her soft snores and drooling. He couldn’t stop the contented smile finding its way to his face as he watched her sleep. He’d never seen her so … perfect.

He frowned as he realized what he was thinking. It wasn’t the first time he’d caught his mind sliding into that territory of thinking when it came to her. Usually she’d do something to piss him off right after though, so he wasn’t left thinking how amazing she was sometimes. _Stop!_ _That’s not what this is. That’s not what we’d agreed to,_ he reminded himself, as snatched up his pants, shaking his head trying to organize his thoughts, stepping into the orange fabric. _This arrangement was only in place to keep us from tearing each other apart. She might be gorgeous and most likely the best sex I’ll ever have in my life, but she’s also a stubborn, pushy, heinous piece of work. And … ok, maybe those aren’t really deal-breakers. And, yeah, these past few months have made me happier than I’ve been in a while. But that doesn’t mean I **love** … her. _

His mind stopped all processes once his brain slipped the l-word into the equation. “Love” echoed through his mind, and his gaze fell back on the Saiyan princess. “Well … shit,” he breathed, feeling his heart pounding with trepidation as he realized that in actuality, that _is_ what it meant. At some point, he’d actually _fallen in love_ with the heinous Saiyan woman. _I **am** in love with her,_ he finally admitted, accepting the lunacy of it. He took a good look at her, and suddenly the world seemed completely different, completely new. He wanted to tell her his realization, but an overwhelming part of his brain told him it was a bad idea.

His heart pounded with fear as he remembered what falling in love meant for some saiyans. Mia had filled him in on the Saiyan monogamy gene back when things all started, citing it as the reason for this arrangement. They’d have sex and not get attached, because if one of them did while the other didn’t, it would end in heartache. He agreed at the time, thinking there was no way he’d get attached to her. She was too stubborn, hot-headed, and annoying.

But that was then. This was now. She was still all those things, but he’d realized and come to terms that those things also made her strong, passionate, funny, and challenging. Those were the traits he’d fallen in love with. As he thought back on the promise they’d made to stay detached, he realized that in that moment, he’d already signed his heart over to her. He just didn’t know it.

He fingered his shirt as the fear residing in the back of his mind screamed, _GET OUT! GET OUT NOW!!!_ And for once, he listened to it, knowing everything between him and Mia had ended the minute he fell in love, because she didn’t fall too. He pulled on his shirt and padded out quickly to grab his boots by the front door.

“You don’t usually spend the night,” a woman’s voice crooned, causing him to freeze. He spun to see Siyaka leaning against the kitchen entryway, her thumb rubbing the rim of her coffee mug. She moved a hand to turn on the breakfast nook light. “Have a seat.”

It took Gohan a minute to get his voice working as he gestured to the door, saying, “I really should be going.”

“I said, ‘have a seat,’” Siyaka reiterated more forcefully, her gaze more severe.

He conceded, grabbing a chair and sitting quietly, feeling a little like a child again under Siyaka’s intense scrutiny. He wasn’t sure what it was. Mia’s fierceness, he could handle. Siyaka, on the other hand, scared him. He’d done his best to limit his run-ins with her since their first dinner when she’d outed him and Mia. But every time he’d seen her since, he got the distinct feeling she wanted him dead … maybe.

He didn’t move as she reached back into the kitchen and grabbed another mug, placing it on the table in front of him. She made her way to the table with the full pot of coffee, pouring him some. He wasn’t sure how to respond as she asked cordially and a little tiredly, “Cream and sugar?” When he didn’t respond, she muttered, “Of course you want cream and sugar,” walking back to the kitchen to grab it off the counter, holding back a yawn. She set them on the table in front of him before sitting down across from him comfortably. When she noticed he hadn’t moved to do anything with his coffee, she scoffed, “It’s not poisoned or anything.”

He did his best to relax as he got his coffee the way he liked before taking a sip. The warm liquid trickled down to his core, providing some comfort to his panicked state.

“So, how is everything going?” Siyaka started congenially. The bags under her eyes matching her exhausted tone.

He didn’t know how to respond. She was never this nice to him. “Uh – Good? How is work?” He did his best to match her friendly tone without sounding too nervous. At least he remembered her new job at Capsule Corp. Since Orange Star City was totally in ruins, there was no more Police Department there, where Gohan had learned she’d worked for the last twenty-two years. Bulma decided to give her a nighttime security position at Capsule Corp, giving Siyaka a handsome salary, benefits, and answers on Vegeta’s life on Earth. Every evening, Siyaka would join the Briefs for dinner before doing some solo training as she guarded the Capsule Corp grounds. Gohan hadn’t eaten as much with the Briefs since he and Mia started their arrangement. His heart began to ache as his thoughts drifted to the arrangement and his current predicament.

“Work is good,” Siyaka replied amicably. She let the silence linger between them before asking, “Do I want to know what happened to the Shepherd’s truck?”

Gohan tried unsuccessfully to suppress his smile as his mind drifted back to the previous afternoon, with Mia denting the car in her ecstasy. “Probably not,” he said softly into his coffee. But Siyaka heard him and understood, nodding as she too took a sip.

“So, clearly things between you and Mia are good?” she more stated than asked.

Gohan wasn’t sure how to respond with his recent discovery. He mumbled out a small, “Yeah, fine, I guess,” even though he was fairly certain the arrangement was now in jeopardy, thanks to his feelings.

“You’re lying.”

His eyes went wide, seeing Siyaka’s tired, but scrutinizing, gaze on him. She smirked at his stunned expression, but it told her everything about the situation she needed to know. “Men don’t run away in the middle of the night if everything is _fine_ ,” she stated, holding back a yawn. He blushed knowing she’d caught him. She let him stew for a minute before asking with a smirk, “You just realized you’re in love with her, didn’t you? That’s why you’re running?”

He stayed silent for a minute before uttering hopelessly, “How could you tell?”

Siyaka scoffed again, “Please,” before she took another sip of her coffee and letting out a relieved sigh. “You come running out of my daughter’s room, looking as if you just found out the world was ending. All after having a decent evening, given the state of the truck.” He was blushing furiously now as she continued, “And your feelings for my daughter have been clear for a while. Even Bulma and Trunks have noticed and commented on the stark change in attitude from you.”

His shoulder dropped as he looked heartbrokenly at the table. “I wasn’t supposed to … to get attached.”

Siyaka let out a small chuckle at the idea behind their arrangement. Having been through it herself, she knew where it always led. “Your feelings were inevitable. Anyone could have told you that.”

“She’s just so much like her father, I didn’t think it was possible,” he stated with a frown. “We hated each other.”

Siyaka nodded knowingly, stating, “She _is_ a lot like her father. Both of them, masters at hiding their feelings and keeping people at a distance.”

Gohan frowned, not knowing what she meant by that. “I was more talking about how hard-headed and challenging she is.”

Siyaka smiled. “That too.”

“What did you mean, ‘masters at hiding their feelings’?” he asked, leaning a little forward in his seat, feeling a small seed of hope take place in his heart.

Siyaka didn’t answer his question. Only gave him a look as if he should already know the answer. Before he could push further, the radio buzzed out of a song into an alert that made Gohan’s heart drop. _“Turtle Village, a town 200 miles south of East City, is under an android attack! If you’re in the cities limits, it’s best to locate the nearest Capsule Corp Bunker, and wait for the National Guard. If you’re outside the city, but still in the imminent threat zone, please evacuate to East City, Sageville, Paozu Town, Cinnamon Town, or Rosemary Harbor. Again, Turtle Village is under android attack. Please evacuate to the nearest Capsule Corp Bunker or listed town. This is your only alert.”_

Gohan immediately stood, forcing his feet into his boots. Turtle Village wasn’t the closest town to home, but Paozu Town was only an hour drive or fifteen-minute flight from Mount Paozu. Anyone evacuating to Paozu Town was going to have some difficulty navigating the treacherous roads through Humbow Pass. Even so, the androids got a little too close to home this time. He looked back to Mia’s room, then thought better of it. He couldn’t bear the thought of breaking her peaceful sleep with android news. “Siyaka …” he started.

“I’ll be less than useful to you now. I haven’t slept in seventeen hours,” she stated, holding back a yawn at the end. “I can get Mia …”

“No,” he breathed, tapping a finger against the back of the chair. “Just … if she asks where I am, tell her about the attack. I’ll try and come back soon.” With that he ran out.

* * *

 

Mia took a deep breath in as she drifted awake, her heart giddy at the idea of waking up next to Gohan, rasping a small, “Good morn…” Her voice died out as she realized he wasn’t lying next to her anymore. She blinked herself wide awake as she sat up, taking a look around her room, not caring about the sheets falling off her naked self. His clothes were gone. Yesterday’s outfit was still strewn about the room, but Gohan and his clothes were gone. Her heart plummeted that something was wrong. He wouldn’t just leave in the middle of the night, would he?

She huffed, ignoring the pang in her heart that the idea caused and instead focused her pain in a new way. _If he thinks the whole morning after thing is too much, then fine. It’s his loss._ She swung her legs out and pulled on her robe, cursing herself for ever entertaining the idea of inviting him out on a date. She had been thinking about it for a while, but was fairly certain he would either over think it and be convinced she loved him, when in all honesty, she hadn’t even thought about it. Either that, or just plain refuse her on grounds that she was a piece of ass, nothing more. She wasn’t sure which one would be more humiliating. The only reason she’d entertained the idea for as long as she did was because she sometimes craved the deeper connection with him than just fucking. Not that the sex wasn’t good. It was fantastic. Just … she remembered being younger and fantasizing about the deep connection her mom told her Saiyan mates got. He was her only shot at experiencing that. But with his midnight run, she wasn’t sure he deserved a deeper connection with her.

She tied her robe shut, doing her best to suppress her fuming as she padded out to the breakfast nook. Like every morning, Siyaka had fallen asleep at the table, mug of coffee in hand and radio playing in the kitchen. It was amazing her mom could make it home that tired. Mia would wake her and help her to bed. “Mom,” she said softly, her smile masking her emotions well by making her tone lighter. That was when the second mug of coffee caught her eye. “Who were you having coffee with?”

“Mmmm? Mia?” Siyaka asked wearily.

“Yeah, Mom. It’s me,” Mia sighed, helping her mom up.

“Gohan … androids,” Siyaka muttered sleepily, slowly coming to, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Mia’s heart plummeted, this time fearing what her mother was saying. “What happened?”

“What time is it?” Siyaka asked, taking a deep breath and yawn.

Mia looked at the clock, “Seven thirty, Mom. What happened with Gohan?”

Siyaka blinked away the last of her sleep, rubbing her cheeks back to life as she said, “The androids attacked Turtle Village. He flew out to fight them off.”

“ALONE!?!?!?!” Mia screeched, now running through her house in a flurry to get her clothes on, forgetting her braid. If he’d been able to sit and have coffee with her Mom while she was still lucid, that meant he’d been gone for almost two hours. Her mind ran all the worst scenarios through her head, him dead in a ditch, buried under rubble. She stopped herself, knowing she didn’t have time for it. He needed her backup.

She ignored her Mom calling after her as she flew off towards Turtle Village. She’d seen it on her way to East City once. She could find it again. At her fastest speeds, it took her an hour and a half to get there. Buildings smoked and collapsed from the battle. The sounds of screams filled the air as Mia flew around, trying to find Gohan before the Androids found her. Gohan had taught her how to sense ki a little. She wasn’t good at it, but she could still sense enough to find him if she focused.

She did her best to tune out the sounds of the terrified city to find Gohan’s familiar ki. When she did find it, it was faint, too faint. She rushed to him, knowing that every second was critical. She found him lying under rubble in the middle of the street, not moving. His body was covered in scrapes, cuts and bruises. She didn’t think to look around as she dove to him, immediately pulling rubble away from his body as she prayed for him to hold on.

“I told you, she’d come,” a cool, calculating voice said off to the side, causing Mia to freeze. She looked to see the blonde android smirking at her. Her heart dropped to her gut with fear as the android’s lifeless eyes connected with hers.

“Well done, 18,” a cocky young man said, applauding his sister’s achievement. “Honestly, didn’t think he’d have it in him.”

“Go,” Gohan grunted, his body racked with pain.

Mia stood to guard him, keeping a close eye on the Android’s movements as she turned Super Saiyan. They crouched into a fighting pose, 17 muttering, “That’s more like it.”

“I want this one, 17. You got the boy toy,” 18 stated slightly territorially.

He scowled at his blond sister, commenting, “You didn’t let me kill him, did you?”

“If you want to go fishing, you need bait,” 18 retorted.

Mia ignored their bickering as she reached to the back of her neck, pulling out as many hairs as she could, infusing them with her Yin ki to make some ki golems. She threw the hairs out and they started forming into clones of Mia. Thirteen clones to be exact. As the androids looked at the group of dopplegangers shocked, they shuffled themselves together, hiding the true Mia amongst them. Then they dispersed in all directions, yelling, “Catch me if you can!”

“Dammit,” 17 huffed, flying after a few of the golems. “18, take the others!” She did so, doing her best to hunt them down. Explosions sounded every 30 seconds as they would catch one, and having it explode in their faces, annoying the androids further.

The actual Mia had powered down and doubled back the instant she knew they couldn’t see her, knowing they’d go after her golems, and she could escape with Gohan. She didn’t mess around with removing the rubble this time, knowing her time was limited. She’d have at most three or four minutes before they caught on. Instead, she dragged him up on her shoulders, his form dwarfing hers significantly as she ran down the streets as fast as she could, hoping they wouldn’t notice her escaping with Gohan’s broken body. She used the smoke from a smoldering building to mask her flight, covering her mouth with her sleeve to prevent smoke inhalation as she made her way to the city limits. She dove out of the smoke column, unable to take the thick air anymore, only to just narrowly miss a ki blast.

“17! Over here! They’re getting away!!!”

“Shit!” Mia cursed, transforming back into super Saiyan and boosting her speed with the heightened ki. She could hear 18 flying closer, 17 closing in his pursuit behind her. Mia lobbed three Chaos Bombs at them. They targeted 18 like a mob of angry hornets, causing her to drop out. 17 shot a blast at her that she barrel-rolled away from, keeping a tight grip on Gohan so he wouldn’t fall, thanking her mother for teaching her such advanced aerial maneuvers. He wasn’t as close as 18 was, giving Mia some time to rip out some more strands of hair, infusing them with whatever Yin ki she could spare. She dropped them, letting them morph into more clones of her that flew in formation alongside her.

“That won’t work!” 17 chided, almost closing the gap between them.

What he didn’t see was the ki golems charging an attack, saying quietly, _“Ka-me-ha-meeeee…”_ They flipped in unison and stopped as they screamed and fired, _“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!”_ The three white-blue beams shot out, hitting the black-haired android and pushing him back from the surprise and strength. Mia didn’t look back, knowing better than to waste the precious time the golems had bought her. She wasn’t naïve enough to hope that would kill them. It wouldn’t. But by the time they recovered, she planned on being long gone. She pushed all of her Yang ki into her speed, hurtling her through the skies at break-neck speeds, the adrenaline pushing her faster than she’d ever been before.

She didn’t slow even as she reached the hundred-mile mark. But she did turn when the skies darkened, light and wind rushing from a large explosion from Turtle Village. She could practically feel the heat from 17’s rage, and she gripped Gohan tighter as the fear gripped her heart. She could feel Gohan’s heart slowing as she flew, and prayed he held on until West City.

She bolted into Capsule Corp, calling out for help desperately, barely able to stand from exhaustion. Bulma came running, seeing Mia holding a broken and battered Gohan, and helped her get him to a gurney.

“What happened?” Bulma asked, grabbing her doctor’s kit. She flashed a flashlight in his eyes, finding they were unresponsive. Her heart plummeted as she pulled out a stethoscope to check his vitals, finding his pulse seriously low. She pulled over a monitor and hooked him up, finding his blood pressure at 60/28. Bulma quickly stripped him down, searching his body for any serious bruising, since the clothes he wore weren’t so stained by blood to explain. She couldn’t find anything on his front. “Help me flip him,” she ordered frantically.

Mia did as she said, seeing a large bruise swelling in the middle of his back, recognizing its location immediately.

Bulma noted the expression of recognition on Mia’s face and asked, “Well, what is it?”

“He’s bleeding internally … a lot,” Mia stated, chewing on her lip to hide her worry. She pooled what little remained of her Yang ki into her fingertips as she sensed for Gohan’s ki. His ki was so low, she almost couldn’t sense it anymore. She placed her hand directly over the bruise, knowing the internal hemorrhaging was ceasing the flow if his ki as it was located over the Chu Tanden well, the source of the ki cycle. With his Chu Tanden out of work, his heart would start failing if it wasn’t already, as well as the other organs it controlled, like the lungs and diaphragm. From there, it would spread to the brain first, then his lower organs. With her ki infusion technique, she could repair the damage done to his tanden and replenish some of his ki stores. That would push his body to stabilize rather than shut down. But they would still need to go in and take care of the bleeding.

Bulma began hooking Gohan up to an IV, and was able to tilt the bed to raise his feet. Then she was at a loss. “We’re going to need a surgeon,” she stated gravely, seeing the growing contusion.

“I thought you were one,” Mia breathed labored as she continued her work in healing his ki network.

“I’m a scientist, not a doctor!” Bulma replied exasperatedly.

“THEN GO GET ME ONE, NOW!!!!” Mia snapped, not looking at the blue-haired woman. Instead she focused her efforts on healing his ki network to keep his heart pumping. Bulma ran out to get a practiced doctor, leaving Mia alone. She stared at the hybrid, her heart pounding from worry, more worry than she’d ever felt in her life. “Don’t you dare die on my, Son Gohan. Don’t you dare!”

* * *

 

When Gohan woke, night had fallen, jarring him awake. He’d been stripped down, and his abdomen hurt as if he’d been stabbed all the way through. He groaned a little in pain as he tried to move, realizing he couldn’t really. That was when he noticed a woman’s hand resting on his chest. He squinted through the dark, just barely able to make out Mia’s figure, asleep in the chair next to his bed, her arm stretched over his form. A feeling of surprised relief trickled through his being. When he thought he was passing, he realized his one regret was not telling her how he felt. And here she was. Her honeysuckle musk rolled off her.

She opened her eyes, grumbling as she rubbed the sleep away and reorienting herself. “Good. You’re awake.”

“How long have I been out?” he asked in a hushed tone. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he realized he was at Capsule Corp, not Mia’s house.

“A day,” Mia stated, scratching her head.

“Ok,” he sighed, still struggling with the pain. “Why does it feel like I’ve been hit by a truck and then stabbed?”

Mia’s hand started to glow as she ran it over his chest, checking his ki network again. She’d fallen asleep repairing it. “You had a Pulmonary Vein rupture in the fight, just over your Chu Tanden, causing an Internal Thoracic Hemorrhage and clogged your ki network. We had to get a surgeon to go in and stop the bleeding before it killed you. And I used my ki infusion technique to fix your Tanden and ki network.” She let out a sigh as her hand stopped glowing. “Your ki network is fine, so you should be healing faster. The doctor said you should be walking in a few days, and back to your regular activities in a few weeks. But being a Saiyan, I’d be surprised if it took you a week. You could probably walk around in less than an hour. Not to mention when the zenkai boost kicks in …”

“The what?” Gohan asked a little confused, but Mia ignored him.

She stood calmly as she said, “That reminds me.” Gohan wasn’t sure what to expect, but Mia slapping him hard across the face with a resounding _“SMACK!”_ was not it.  His head whipped to the side, his eyes wide with shock as his cheek began to tingle. “Don’t you _ever_ do something so _reckless_ again!” Mia snapped. “Do you have _any_ idea how _worried_ I was!?! I wake up, and you’re gone, only to have Mom tell me you’ve gone off to fight the androids ALONE! I thought you’d gone off and gotten yourself killed! You almost did!!”

Gohan looked at her strangely, noticing tears in her eyes. It wasn’t something he was used to seeing, especially in regards to him. He remained silent as she sat back down, taking some calming breaths. “I’m sorry, Mia. I didn’t realize you cared so much.”

“Well, I do,” she replied, a little confused herself by what she was saying. A small dawning of realization flashed through her eyes, and Gohan felt that seed of hope again.

He eyed her carefully, Siyaka’s comment from earlier ringing in his head. _Maybe I just have to chance it,_ he thought, biting his lip. He did almost die today. Maybe it was a sign. “But, I wasn’t leaving because of the androids,” he confessed. Mia gave him a confused look, like a dog that just heard a whistle. “I was leaving because I realized our arrangement no longer works.”

“If this is about me planning on asking you out on a date …” Mia started, figuring at some point the thought crossed her mind when they were in bed together. But when she saw him frown his confusion, she pursed her lips, realizing he didn’t know about her plans. “Which clearly, it isn’t,” she tried to recover.

“A date?” he asked, that seed of hope growing.

“Why doesn’t our arrangement work?” Mia asked instead.

“I asked you first.”

“Yeah, but mine is clearly more important.”

“I don’t think so.”

“If you’re breaking up with me, I think a date is off the table.”

“I’m not breaking up with you.”

Mia’s shoulders dropped and she frowned at him in confusion. “Well, then what are you doing?”

“I’m trying to tell you I’m in love with you,” Gohan answered bluntly. Having imagined professing his love to her being a little grander, he was a little disappointed with how it came out. But he’d already said it.

Her eyes went wide at his proclamation. There was a pregnant pause between them as she looked him in the eyes. “You love me?”

“Yeah,” he stated, again bluntly.

“You’re … in love … with me?” Mia said again, still puzzling over it.

“Yes,” he grumbled, wishing she would move on.

“ _Love?_ ” she asked.

“Do you need it written down?” he asked annoyedly.

Mia was grinning now, a little chuckle escaping her lips as she said, “I’m sorry. It’s just _you_ , perfect little angel that you are, has fallen _in love_ with _me_ , ‘a devil-woman,’ if I may quote you.”

“Make fun of me all you want, it doesn’t change the fact that I love you,” he stated a little sourly, turning away from her.

“Good,” she almost whispered, catching him off guard as she stood up again, leaned down and kissed him. The kiss was short and tender. Happy thoughts and feelings swirled through them, creating a cocoon of comfort surrounding them. She didn’t have to tell him she loved him back. He knew through all her feelings she presented to him openly. Her attraction to him, as well as her hopes and dreams that solely resided with him. She wanted things that only he was equipped to give her. There were also things that she wanted to share with him, personal things that she’d never shown anyone. She trusted him and his judgement more than anyone else in the whole world.

He realized his feelings were the same. He wanted to show her the training grounds with Piccolo, the Lake on Mount Paozu, the Ox Kingdom, Kame house. He even wanted to introduce her to his mom.

Mia pushed the kiss into more passionate territory, letting her fever get the better of her, not worried about his stitches since he wound would be healed soon. She began to remove her clothes before hopping on the bed with him. While he was into what she was doing, he worried about what him moving would do to his stitches. She sent calming feelings through her fingertips, easing his mind as she assumed control. She moved a hand over his incision, flooding the cut with Yang Ki to help pull the wound closed.

Once she finished, he responded by springing up, pulling her into another passionately fervent kiss. She ground against him, feeling his member grow hard. He stopped her hips, his hooded eyes finding her. “What?” she whispered.

“Say it.” His grip on her tightened as he urged again, “Say it.”

She smiled, knowing exactly what he wanted to hear her say. “I love … your eyes,” she said, placing a kiss on his brow. He growled, as her hand drifted down to his, lifting it up. “I love your hands,” she said, kissing his knuckles.

He pulled his hand away and swiftly rolled her under him, his member placed strategically at her entrance. “Say it,” he ordered again.

Mia smirked as she raised her legs to rest on his waist, giving him a better angle as she whispered, “Make me.”

He glowered back at her, a part of him wanting her to scream her proclamations now. He seized her lips with his own, the kiss fierce and starved as he pushed himself in her. His teeth started tingling again, something he’d noticed and suppressed the last several times they had sex. His hips started slow as he pulled away with bared teeth, watching the relief wash over her face. He could feel her craving his touch on his favorite bud. His hands didn’t move as he ordered again, “Say it.”

“Make me.”

He complied, his thumb finding her bud and rubbing small circles into it. She let out a moan as her ecstasy climbed. “I … I …” she moaned, getting close.

“Say it.” His teeth tingled with anticipation, feeling the need to bite something.

She was doing her best to hold back. But as her orgasm rippled through her, she cried out, “I love you. I love you, Gohan.” He seized her mouth in a quick kiss, his teeth still tingling until he pulled away and bit into her neck. She let out a moan as she too bit into his neck, cutting through his skin a little as his bite clamped down on her as they came together, leaving them drained as they rode each other through their orgasms. He let out a sharp hiss, releasing her skin from his teeth. _Sorry,_ he thought as his senses seemed slightly heightened all of a sudden that he couldn’t explain as he pulled away from her.

She let out a laugh. **_Sleep,_** she ordered as they shifted into a comfortable snuggle.

* * *

 

Gohan awoke to bright sunlight streaming through the windows, and he blinked to get his eyes used to the new light. In his arms, Mia still snoozed, her arms curled against his chest, her hair splayed away from him. How they both fit on the hospital bed was a miracle of itself. He noticed a twinging pain in his lower back at the base of his spine, and he adjusted his position as best he could to not wake her as he reached back to check the aching spot. When his fingers found the pain, he felt fur which caused him to pull further awake as he checked to see if Mia’s tail had caused this pain only to find her tail lightly curled around her thigh, only twitching a couple times.

With his eyes wide, he gripped the furry appendage behind him and pulled it around him, finding his tail had returned at some point in the night. The twinging pain had come from sleeping on his tail wrong, having not had one for almost twenty years. He got out of bed to check himself in the mirror as well as his new tail.

The movement woke Mia, and she propped herself up to see Gohan checking his backside in the mirror. “I didn’t leave scratches, did I?” Mia joked.

He looked up at her confused as he paused his puzzling for a moment. That was when he noticed the bruising at the base of her neck when he bit her. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.”

She raised an eyebrow at him, before seeing where his eyes had fallen and felt the swollen skin, feeling the teeth imprints where her skin broke. She smiled. “We claimed each other last night.”

He frowned at her until she gestured to where she had bitten him, and he found a similar welt as hers. He turned to inspect it in the mirror with wide eyes, giving Mia a good look at his long tail. “Y-you have a tail? Since when!?”

“I woke up with it,” he answered, still inspecting her work. “I used to have one as a kid, but I had it cut off a long time ago. It just came back.”

He felt Mia sidle up behind him, grabbing his tail gently and running it through her fingers, sending shivers up his spine. “Well, I like it,” Mia smiled as she petted his new furry appendage.

He gave a small eye roll as he muttered, “You would.” He returned his focus to the mirror, inspecting the bruising and pierced skin from her bite as he asked, “What do you mean, ‘claimed each other’?”

She smiled as her hand found his over his bruised neck, being careful with the tender skin as she explained, “These bites are mating marks. When you bit me, you claimed me as your mate, and I claimed you back.” She tapped his mark a little to emphasize.

“You’re my mate?” he asked, his tone still full of confusion.

“Well, for Saiyans, marriage isn’t that frequent a practice, except for royals and nobility. So, for most of the lower class Saiyans, they claim the person they see as the one they spend their romantic life with. Essentially, you’ve claimed me as your unofficial wife, and I’ve claimed you as my unofficial husband.”

He blinked at her, his mind somehow finding the ability to wrap around the idea of mates. “It’s not always going to look like this, though. Right?”

She gave him a knowing smile as she replied, “No. The bruise will heal, and all that will be left is the mark, which will scar.” She leaned against his back, their skin connecting in tingles and sparks, like their bodies were humming in tune with each other, and she grinned as she pulled her arms around him. She kissed his shoulder blade before leaning her head against his back, loving the new sensations, knowing the mating mark had awoken some parts of them as she breathed, “Let’s go back to bed.”  He turned to face her, their naked bodies connecting from head to toe as he leaned down to kiss her. She pulled him back to the bed, still kissing him, their hands roving over each other, enjoying the new sensations from their mating marks as they made love for the first time.

* * *

The first three weeks of their official relationship had been full of excitement and love. Bulma and Siyaka were clearly happy that the couple had finally seen reason. Trunks on the other hand tried to act somewhat flummoxed and disgusted by the idea of Gohan and Mia in love, even though he was clearly happy for them. Mia and Gohan had cut training short a few days to go on dates, learning more about each other like their old dreams, stories from growing up, and passions. Mia had also taken to training Gohan’s tail weakness away.

Trunks flew at Gohan for a high chop, which Gohan blocked with ease. The sun was high, and the clouds drifted ever so slowly with the light breeze that rolled through the plains they had designated as the new training grounds. The hybrids traded blows for blocks as they sparred. Trunks got too close to getting the better of Gohan one time, and Gohan immediately put a stop to that, shoving the purple-haired hybrid back and jumping into Super Saiyan. “No fair,” Trunks pouted as he caught his breath, his hands rested on his knees as he wheezed a little. “You know I can’t go Super Saiyan.”

Gohan smirked, settling into a fighting stance as he replied, “Maybe because I haven’t pushed you to it yet.”

Trunks scoffed, still wheezing as he mustered, “Are you admitting Mia might be right about my training?” It would be a first.

Before Gohan could answer, they heard a yelp before something impacted with the ground with a big puff of smoke and let out a distressed cry. Gohan immediately dropped out of Super Saiyan and ran to where Mia had been training. The past few days, she had opted to train away from the two guys in favor of her own training. Mia lay on the ground, clutching her foot as she hissed and groaned in pain. He started to remove her boot to assess the damage as he asked, “What happened?”

Mia shook her head, “I dunno. I was flying, working on my ki splitting because it’s seemed off recently. Next thing I know, my ki is no longer there and I fell to the ground.” She hissed as she added, “I landed on my foot wrong.”

He pulled the boot away, and she hissed, revealing her ankle’s serious swelling. “This looks bad,” he hissed. He looked at Trunks who stood over Gohan’s shoulder eyeing his sister’s ankle, a grimace finding its way to his face. Gohan reached down, picking Mia up bridal style with ease. “I’m going to take her to a doctor. Training’s over today.”

“Is there anything you …” Trunks started only to get blasted by the dust and wind whipped up from Gohan’s take-off. He let out a cough waving the dust away from his face as he groused, “Yeah. Should have figured.” He turned westward and headed home.

* * *

 

“It looks sprained,” the doctor said, resting her ankle back on the patient’s table. “Grade II from what I can see. You can take some over the counter pain medicine for any discomfort. For the first few weeks you’ll need a boot and crutches. I’d also prescribe lots of rest and icing your ankle for the next few weeks.”

Mia let out a huff, seeing Gohan in the corner eyeing her seriously.

“How did you say this happened again?”

“Running,” Mia lied easily. “I slipped and tripped over a rock.”

The doctor nodded, looking at his paperwork. “You’ve got to be careful when running. These types of injuries can crop up out of nowhere.” He let out a sigh before standing. “Let me go get that boot for you.” The door closed behind the doctor with a decisive click.

“Oh, Lord,” Mia groaned, laying back on the patient’s table, placing her fists on her forehead.

“I’m just glad nothing’s broken,” Gohan stated, walking over to her.

“Yeah, but I’m going to be hobbling around in some ugly boot for two weeks. I can’t train in that.”

“You aren’t training at all,” Gohan laughed. She dropped her fists and looked at him angrily, searching for an explanation. “You got injured because of something else going on with you. You said it felt like your ki just vanished?”

“What’s your point?” she asked dangerously.

“My point is, if you’re sick, your body needs time to recover. Resting is the best thing you can do right now, not just for your ankle,” he replied blatantly.

“But –“

“No but’s,” Gohan interrupted, his gaze holding a finality in his statement.

Mia set her jaw and let out a growl. She already knew that if she tried anything, Gohan would tell her mother, and that was the last thing Mia needed.

The doctor waltzed back into the exam room with a smile, holding the boot up victoriously in one hand. “You got our last one!” He set the crutches next to the door as he maneuvered to put the boot on her injured leg. Mia shot a pleading look to Gohan, but his expression made it clear he wasn’t siding with her on this. She closed her eyes, and resigned herself to her fate.

* * *

 

Two weeks had passed, and Mia was still in the boot. Her body was taking its time healing, and Gohan refused to let her train until her foot was cleared by the doctor. Because she couldn’t train, she was stuck at home, sitting on the couch vegging on snacks and watching movies. She wore her new usual, sweatpants and a sweatshirt, her hair free and flowing around her. She had her bootless foot propped up on some pillows with some ice as she watched one of her longtime favorites, The Empire Strikes Back. When she was younger, she and Rito would marathon all the Star Wars movies if Siyaka had been called in for a deposition or was under cover. She’d miss those nights.

 _“The force is with you, Young Skywalker. But you are not a Jedi … yet.”_ Vader called out, as Mia munched on some popcorn.

The door opened and shut, and Mia sensed Gohan walking in. Siyaka was off at work, like most nights. Gohan walked into the living room, seeing Mia in her usual spot on the couch. He’d changed out of his training gi and into some normal clothes, which had taken some getting used to, but it seemed to be his usual now. He wore a pair of jeans, a white t-shirt, with a black vest. His eyes flitted to the screen with confusion. “What’s this?”

Mia shot him an odd look before answering, “This is Star Wars.”

“Oh,” he replied blankly, pausing a minute before asking. “What’s with the heavy breathing?”

Mia paused the movie, blinking at her boyfriend completely dumbstruck. “You haven’t seen these, have you?” Her tone was more accusatory than intrigued.

“No?” Gohan said uncertainly. Mia let out a gasp like he’d physically assaulted her. “What?”

Mia struggled to get up, huffing, “Well you can’t start here! This is the biggest reveal in cinematic history!”

He tried to stop her tirade as he walked around the love seat to the couch, but Mia was already up and hopping on one foot to the dvd player. She had the whole set sitting right next to the player, because she was planning on marathoning them. Had she known Gohan hadn’t seen them, she would have waited. But she could rewatch the first one.

Once the trailers started playing, she hopped back to her spot, noting Gohan’s slightly disapproving frown. She pointed to the other end of the couch and said, “Sit.”

“But –“

“Sit!”

He did as she ordered, and she sat down next to him, propping herself up by leaning on him and resting her foot on her pillows again. She hit a button that skipped the ads and started the movie, settling back into place with her popcorn, draping a blanket over them.

“What’s this …?”

“Sh!” Mia huffed, as the intro began to roll.

Gohan pursed his lips before stating, “You know, I made plans.”

“Cancel them,” Mia grumbled. “This is clearly more important.”

“I don’t know if that’s true,” Gohan muttered to himself, adjusting uncomfortably.

“Sh.”

They sat in mostly silence as the movie rolled on. Every time Gohan had a question, Mia would silence him and tell him she’d answer all questions at the end. She refilled the popcorn twice in during the movie. Once the medal ceremony ended and the credits rolled, Mia turned to Gohan with a big knowing smile and asked, “So what’d you think?”

He frowned, his lips pursed as he asked, “How old is this movie?”

“Almost forty years.”

“Well, that explains a lot.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Mia snapped angrily.

“Nothing,” Gohan defended, “just the fight scenes seemed lazy. And there were _a lot_ of puppets.”

Mia’s eyes were wide, and she gasped again like she’d been physically assaulted. “This is one of the best series in history!”

“Ok,” he stated, still a little confused. “I’m allowed to have opinions about it though, right?”

“Not if you hate it,” Mia snapped half-jokingly, but also half hurt.

“Well, why do you like it so much? I have a hard time seeing you watching these with your mom, what with her kind of being an ex-storm trooper.”

“My mom was not an ex-storm trooper!”

“She was a soldier in Frieza’s army, who was an evil galactic emperor.”

“Yeah, but my mom was actually deadly.”

“That’s another thing! Why couldn’t the bad guys hit anything? Weren’t they supposed to be the best marksmen in the galaxy?”

“Just shut up!” Mia huffed, getting up and hobbling away, doing her best to hide her tears. She stepped on her injured foot wrong and fell with a yelp. Gohan rushed to her as she picked herself up, grumbling to herself over her own stupidity.

“Are you alright?”

“No,” Mia spluttered, letting the tears fall. She hated when she got emotional like this. Saiyans were naturally emotional creatures, which is what made them passionate fighters. When they couldn’t fight, they couldn’t channel those emotions, and just made a wreck of their minds. “My ankle isn’t healing fast enough. Because my ankle isn’t healed, I can’t train! Because I can’t train, I’ve gained twenty pounds!”

“You haven’t gained twenty pounds,” Gohan tried.

“I can’t wear my pants anymore! It’s sweatpants or a dress! Nothing else fits!” Mia snapped. Gohan’s shoulders drooped a little as she continued. “On top of all that, my boyfriend hates one of my favorite movies!” She collapsed into a fit of tears and sniffles that left Gohan feeling a little lost. When it came to crying women, he was never good.

“I-I didn’t hate it,” he amended.

“Well, you didn’t like it,” Mia sniffled.

“Why does it matter?”

She let out a small huff as she said, “Those movies are all I’ve got to remember Rito by.” He still frowned, unsure of what she was talking about. She’d mentioned Rito a couple times, and he’d helped her bury him, but other than that he knew nothing.

“Well, tell me,” he offered, sitting next to her.

“Whenever he’d have to watch me, we’d marathon those movies,” Mia explained. “When I was younger, they were magical. And as I got older, they were a reminder of how things were before. Kind of like, even though the world has gone to shit, we could always enjoy those movies together. But now …”

“He’s gone,” Gohan filled in, knowingly.

“Yeah,” Mia sniffled. She ran a hand through her hair as she added, “Today was his birthday.”

Gohan immediately felt saddened, knowing exactly how she was feeling. April 16th, his dad’s birthday, was always a tough time of year for him. He picked Mia up, and took her back to the couch, ignoring her disheartened protests. He went to the dvd player and put the next one in. He settled back down with her to watch the next movie. “You’re sure?” Mia asked. He nodded his answer and pressed play, resolving to wait on his plans.

* * *

 

It was almost midnight by the time they finished Return of the Jedi, and Gohan had turned around on the series a bit. “I still can’t believe they’re siblings,” he muttered as they took their empty snacks back to the kitchen to toss them in the trash.

“I told you,” Mia said with a smile.

“But didn’t they … weren’t they romantically involved?” he asked, some disgust in his tone.

Mia shrugged, “That’s the general consensus, but it’s never actually stated. And she’s in love with Han in the end, so …”

“Still,” Gohan continued shaking his head, “that’s messed up.”

“They didn’t know,” Mia argued.

“You said there were three more?”

“Yeah. The prequels. They aren’t as good as those, but they provide some good background,” Mia stated, closing the trash can. “Anyway, we can wait on those. We’ve got to get some rest. Aren’t you flying me to your mother’s tomorrow?”

Gohan’s eyes went wide, as if he’d completely forgotten about that. “Shit,” he breathed.

Mia’s dark eyes fell on him, slightly annoyed. “What?”

Gohan started patting himself nervously as he stated, “Nothing. I just told my Mom I was going to do something, and instead, we watched Star Wars.”

Mia frowned, a little worriedly now, as she asked, “Was it something important? Do we need to go …?”

He seemed to calm a little, and gave Mia his trademark Son family grin as he said, “Don’t worry about it. I can handle it before bed.”

“Good,” Mia breathed a sigh of relief. “Because I am extremely tired!” She said the last bit with a large yawn and a stretch, showing off her slightly grown belly and muffin top. The bed rest had put a dent in her fitness.

“Yeah, I just need to make a call, and I’ll join you for bed,” Gohan stated, walking back to the living room for the phone. He saw Mia pad into her room, and dialed Capsule Corp. quickly. It rang a couple times before someone picked up the phone.

_“Hello?”_

“Hey, Bulma. We didn’t make the reservation …”

Bulma huffed across the line. _“You two can’t keep it in your pants for one hour to get to …”_

“No, it wasn’t that. She had a friend who died last September. It was his birthday today, and she wanted to do something to remember him by.”

_“And you didn’t clear that up ahead of time?”_

Gohan pinched the bridge of his nose. “I just need some suggestions before we go to my Mom’s for brunch in the morning.”

There was silence on the line before Bulma replied, _“Ok, here’s what you do.”_

 

* * *

 

Mia had pulled out a nice lacey teddy, periwinkle blue with tan lace, and put on some make-up. She felt bad she essentially canceled their big date that night. With the day what it was, and how she’d been feeling, she just wasn’t up for a night on the town. But as soon as she saw the look in Gohan’s eye, and he told her he’d needed to do something on their date, she felt as if she’d let him down a little, and resolved to make it up to him. And her chest fell just right in this teddy, that she wondered why she didn’t were them more often. She finished applying her lipstick and smiled. _Perfect._

Gohan walked into the room, looking resolved until his eyes fell on her. “What’s this?” he asked, his smile questioning and his eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Mia turned to him with a flirty grin as she said, “Well, I know you made plans tonight, and I kind of ruined them. I wanted to make it up to you.” She placed a hand on his, and he stiffened. She opened their mind link and she could sense he was nervous, but he’d blocked her from his thoughts almost completely. Her onyx eyes found his and she gave a him a curious look. “What are you hiding?”

“N-nothing,” he tried.

Mia chuckled as her hands roved over him. “Liar.” She pulled him into a kiss, and she could feel he was doing his best to hold back. “Tell me.” He struggled to hold the barrier in his mind, and it made her all the more curious. Her hands drifted down to his belt buckle, undoing it as she kept pushing, “Tell me.”

“I … It’s a surprise,” he rasped out as her hand slipped into his pants.

Her hand brushed something hard and angled in his pocket, and she stopped, looking at him confused. She grabbed hold of it, feeling the shape out. “What is this?”

“Mia.”

“What is in your pocket, Gohan?” she asked, stepping back his pants still undone.

He huffed. She was pushy. “I told you, it’s a surprise.”

“Show me.”

“No.”

“Show me!” she urged excitedly.

“No!”

She pouted, crossing her arms. Gohan had to admit she looked irresistible in the teddy. “Please?” she asked ever so sweetly, doing her best impression of innocent puppy eyes.

Gohan smiled at her. Try as she might to look innocent, it just wasn’t in her nature. “It’s not going to work,” he said.

She stepped towards him, still looking up at him innocently as she asked, “Are you sure?” Her chest butted up to his, pressing him back into the wall. As her hands found their way to his body, he mentally blocked himself again to make sure she didn’t try to pry the answer from his mind. It wouldn’t be beneath her to do that. She pulled him in for another kiss, this time a challenging gleam in her eyes. But he wouldn’t break. He closed his eyes, focusing hard on holding up the mental barrier between them. Just when he thought she was giving up, she pulled away, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she held up the black velvet box between her thumb and forefinger.

He frowned at her. “Give it back.”

“Tell me what it is,” Mia tried.

“I said, ‘Give it back,” he tried, stepping away from the wall, his hand outstretched.

“I could just take a peak …” she said, her grin more mischievous now.

He moved to swipe the box back, and she gave a playful squeal. But even with her bum leg, she was still pretty agile. She dove under his arm and ran out the bedroom door. He ran after her, but she snuck into her mom’s room, shutting the door on him with a laugh. “Mia!” he called out on the other side of the door as she held the box in her fingers, so tempted to open it. She kept tapping the box with her finger. Clearly it was jewelry. But it wasn’t a special anniversary or anything like that for them. Her curiosity piqued.

“I won’t open it if you tell me what it’s for,” Mia offered through the door.

He was silent for a minute before replying, “Open the door, and I’ll tell you.” She rubbed the black velvet with her fingertips.

She opened the door gently, seeing Gohan standing there a little perturbed but smiling. She held up the box with a winning smile as she asked, “What’s this for?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to wait until morning,” he asked, a little hopefully.

She smirked. “Knowing I’ll find out soon, I won’t be able to sleep. And do you really want me falling asleep at your mother’s house?”

He nodded, knowing she was probably telling the truth on that one. Mia was nothing if not insatiably curious, something she got from her mother, he figured. “Alright then,” he sighed, holding out his hand. She put the black box in his hand. He then grabbed her hand, saying, “Follow me.” He guided her to the table, pulling out a chair for her. She frowned as he motioned for her to have a seat.

“Are you going to tell me?”

“Have a seat first.”

She rolled her eyes, and complied, sitting down not so gracefully. “I’d hoped for a better setting, but this will have to do,” he sighed as he stepped in front of her before kneeling down onto one knee. Mia’s eyes flew wide and her jaw dropped. “Mia, when my dad died, I never thought I’d be as happy again as I am now with you. Since you’ve walked into my life you’ve challenged me, guided me, and even supported me more than anyone else. And I love you so much, that since I’ve met you, I can’t imagine my life without you. So,” he transitioned, pulling out the black box and snapping it open to reveal a large garnet cut into a princess cut gem, surrounded by small diamonds in a classical styled silver ring, “I’m asking you to please marry me.”

Mia wasn’t sure how to respond. It was almost as if her brain had completely forgotten how to speak, or what words even were. Apparently, her pause was long enough to make him self conscious as he added awkwardly, “No pressure or anything,” moving the ring back. When he’d originally planned to ask, he didn’t think she’d answer with anything but yes, but now her silence had him nervous.

“No no no,” Mia breathed smiling, reaching to grab his hand holding the ring. “It’s not that. Just, uhm, did you talk to my mom already … about this?” He quirked an eyebrow at her, clearly confused that was her first thought at his proposal. “Because, you know, she might kill you without her blessing.”

He let out a bark of a laugh as he replied, “Why do you think she switched her shifts tonight?”

Mia frowned as she realized that she should have known he was proposing, and that her mom had been in on it. Siyaka had been dropping hints all week, suggesting Mia get her nails done, or buy new makeup, even go out and get something nice for the date they had tonight. Mia’s go to thought was lingerie, hence the teddy, but clearly it was something else entirely. Now she was tearing up, because they had gone through so much trouble to set this up, and she’d ignorantly tried to stop it at every turn. That and she was happy. So happy she couldn’t contain herself.

“Well, yes,” she cried, still smiling. “Obviously yes!” She pulled him to her, kissing him passionately on the lips as she pulled him to stand with her. He was grinning as he kissed her, and she could feel his nervousness leave as it was replaced with elation. Mia mentally apologized for being difficult that night. Had she known, she wouldn’t have changed the plans. And his original plans had been romantic, but this was good too. Definitely memorable.

He pulled away, taking her left hand and sliding the ring on her finger. She gazed at it lovingly as the rocks gleamed back at her. “God, it’s breath-taking,” she commented.

He squeezed her waist gently as he replied, “It was my grandmother’s. She died when my mother was an infant. My mom only let me have it on the condition that it was on your finger when she met you tomorrow.”

Mia sighed, a little nervously now. “Do you think she’ll like me?”

Gohan gave his trademark Son grin as he gave her a small kiss on her cheek. “Of course she will.” His smile shifted to a smirk as he chewed lightly on his lower lip, eyeing the periwinkle teddy she was still wearing. “Now …” he started, fingering one of the teddy’s straps as he said, “you mentioned something about making this evening up to me?” Mia matched his smirk, her newly ringed hand intertwining with his as she guided him back to her room, letting her plans seep in through their fingertips. A shiver of arousal went down his spine as her fantasies flitted through his mind. She guided him to the bed, and gently started to remove his clothes.

* * *

 

The next morning, Gohan carried her through the skies to the base of Mount Paozu, where his old family home sat in a small field surrounded by forests. The previous night’s festivities kept them up long after they had planned to go to sleep, but they made up their time by skipping breakfast and showering together. He wore something simple, white long-sleeve shirt tucked into grey blue dress pants and a black sweater vest over them. Mia teased him a little for looking so stiff, but relented knowing he was nervous about her making a good impression. Again, Mia complained about the weight she had gained from resting instead of training. This was especially when she couldn’t find a good outfit to wear, showing to Gohan what she meant by her pants didn’t fit anymore when she tried to zip them, but they wouldn’t budge. Instead she opted to wear a loose-fitting jersey dress with a high-waisted belt and bolero sweater. The way the dress hung off her, it was clear she had gained some weight. Gohan even noted that her six-pack abs were gone, now replaced by some pudge.

Originally, he thought she was being melodramatic about her weight to try and convince him to let her train. Now he realized she wasn’t being so over the top.

“So, you did notice it,” Mia commented as he flew her through the clouds, holding her bridal style, since he still wasn’t sure if her flying problems had fixed themselves. She’d also recently been feeling some cold symptoms, and was certain that was why her ki was out of whack. She’d be over it soon.

“Notice what?” he asked, focusing on the familiar scenery.

“That I’ve gotten fat,” she replied annoyedly. He didn’t reply. “You can say it. I noticed the look you gave me when I hopped in the shower this morning.”

He shook his head. “I just didn’t realize you’d gained so much,” he stated. Mia huffed, taking his confirmation sourly. “It’s not a bad thing, though.”

“Well, it’s not good!” Mia groused, gripping her hands tighter around his neck.

He didn’t know how to respond to that, and let out a sigh of relief as he saw his family home appear in its clearing. “We’re here.” He landed gently on the grass, carefully placing Mia’s feet on the ground to let her stand. He grasped her hand as they walked up to the door.

_I bet your mom is going to comment on it._

_Trust me. She won’t care._

Before Gohan could even knock, the door swung open, presenting a large man, possibly a giant if they were real, with graying brown hair, a bushy beard and moustache, and a horned hat on his head. He wore a short sleeve button down shirt that was tucked into belted brown wool shorts. The man wore glasses over kind eyes that beamed down at Gohan. “GOHAN!” the man cheered, pulling the hybrid in for a large hug. “So happy you could make it! And who is this lovely lady?” Gohan opened his mouth to answer, but the man held up a finger to pause him. “Hold on, let’s get your mother in here. CHI CHI! GOHAN’S HOME!!!”

“I heard him, father,” a kind voice replied stepping around the large man. Mia was surprised to see such a young woman step forward, pulling Gohan in for a hug as she said, “I missed you, Son.”

“Missed you too, Mom.”

Chi Chi wasn’t nearly as old as Bulma. Her peachy skin was still youthful, and her ebony hair sported only a few grays. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun, showing off her silver earrings. Her smile sported some laugh lines, but they weren’t deep. She wore a traditional purple silk dress with a red belt at her waist. She wore a white silk blouse underneath with her sleeves rolled up. She had a pink apron on, showing some stains from cooking. Her black eyes shifted to Mia, gaining an odd glint as she took her in. “This must be Mia?”

“Uh, yes. Mom, Grandpa, this is my fiancé, Mia Jicama,” Gohan introduced, gesturing to the Saiyan princess.

“Fiancé?” the large man cheered. He whooped for joy before grabbing Mia and pulling her into a large hug.

“Carefully, Daddy,” Chi Chi admonished, watching Mia closely. Her gaze shifted to Gohan, her look disappointed.

His smile fell a little as his mother looked at him like he’d done something wrong. His tail twitched, the only part of him showing his nervousness. They’d just gotten there. “What?”

She gestured to go talk off to the side, and he followed his mother curiously. His mother rounded on him, her voice hushed as she asked, “Why didn’t you tell me she was pregnant when you came for the ring?” Gohan’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline before he let out a bark of a laugh. Chi Chi’s face fell to a glower at her son. “Do you think this is funny?”

“No … no…” Gohan tried his best to calm down, biting his lips together. “It’s not funny. Uhm … it’s just … she’s not pregnant.”

Chi Chi’s sharp gaze told him she wasn’t buying it. “Then explain the baby bump,” his mother huffed, doing her best to subtly gesture to Mia’s belly, which with Mia turned to the side, did look round.

 He frowned, knowing what his mother suggested was impossible. He also knew revealing that she would never be a grandmother would be devastating for her. Gohan shook his head in slight disbelief at his mother’s insistence. “She has gained a little weight recently, because she hurt herself training, and the doctor told her to rest for a few weeks.” He looked at his girlfriend a little sadly, realizing she’d been right, his mother was going to comment on the weight gain. “She’s been very self-conscious about it, and I told her you weren’t going to say anything,” he added, matching his mother’s disapproving tone.

“She gained weight because she’s pregnant,” Chi Chi insisted.

He chewed his lip as he realized he had to tell his mother it was impossible. “Mom, I can’t have kids.” Chi Chi frowned, confused by what he was saying. “You and Dad are two different species, making me a hybrid. Hybrids tend to be infertile because their genes are incompatible with each other.”

Chi Chi scoffed. “That’s just horse-shit. Who told you that?”

“Mia,“ Gohan answered, “Then Bulma.”

Chi Chi shook her head, shifting away from her son as she replied, “Well, clearly they were wrong.” She stepped back to Mia, an easy smile on her face as she asked the Saiyan princess, “Sorry if this is a little too personal, but when was your last period?”

Mia’s eyebrows shot very high, and she nervously shot a look to Gohan who only shrugged and rolled his eyes in return. She looked back at Chi Chi, and smiled forcibly as she asked, “Do you always start conversations like this?”

“When my son and future daughter-in-law seem to be in denial about their pregnancy, yes,” Chi Chi answered bluntly.

“You’re pregnant?” the Ox King asked, beaming between Gohan and Mia, who both looked uncomfortable.

“No, Grandpa. Mom’s just being ridiculous,” Gohan replied, glaring slightly at his mother. Sometimes her stubbornness was a real problem.

“Ridiculous my foot!” Chi Chi snapped back. “If I’m being so ridiculous, then the answer should be simple. Shouldn’t it?”

Mia raised a surrendering hand as she said tiredly, “It’s alright Gohan. I’ll answer it. Just let me think.” As she thought back, she began to frown. It had been a few weeks, but she hadn’t thought to worry about it due to Gohan being a hybrid, and therefore supposedly infertile. Her eyes widened as she realized that not keeping track had been a mistake, and she tried to recount the weeks. _How long_ has _it been?_ she thought to herself. She moved to a calendar on the wall, and as she counted, she lifted her thumb to her mouth and chewed nervously on its nail.

Chi Chi grinned, turning to her son for a moment, muttering, “I know that look.”

Gohan’s gaze shifted nervously to his fiancé, suddenly wondering if his mom was right. “Mia?”

Mia shook her head, horrified as she found his gaze. “I don’t know. God, I can’t remember.”

Chi Chi’s grin reached ear to ear as she crossed the room back towards the kitchen, reaching into a small purse for something. Gohan only looked at his fiancé, not registering anyone else’s movements or reactions to his fiancé’s answer as he asked, “Well, what does that mean?”

Chi Chi made her way back to the room, slapping twenty thousand zeni to his chest, which he blankly grabbed, as she said, “It means you need to fly to Paozu Town, pick your fiancé up a few pregnancy tests, and some extra groceries for dinner.” She turned to Mia conspiratorially joking as she added, “I only prepared for two saiyans. But if you’re anything like I was, you’ll be eating double.” When Gohan remained frozen, clearly in shock at the turn of events, his mother clapped in front of his face to bring him out. “Well, go on!”

Gohan moved robotically out the door, speeding off into the air opposite from the direction they came in. Chi Chi turned to Mia, still grinning, but now less skeptical and more happily. “Why don’t you come over here, and have a seat,” she offered, guiding Mia over to a couch. “Do you want anything to drink? Some water? A soda? Tea?”

“Water,” Mia replied blankly as she sat down, her belly looking obvious as she sat, still wondering how on earth this happened. She knew how, but some of the mechanics around the how didn’t add up. He was a hybrid. He was supposed to be infertile.

Chi Chi sat down next to her, still almost beaming with excitement as she handed Mia her drink. “I’m sorry to bust you with the pregnancy inquisition. I thought it was obvious you already knew when you got here, and Gohan was just being childish about it.” Mia blankly took a sip as Chi Chi continued, “You two really didn’t know?”

“No,” Mia replied, her heart mixed with emotions. “We didn’t think it was possible.”

Chi Chi scoffed, “Gohan should have known better. He knows Trunks was conceived from a one-night stand, and Goku and I had no problem conceiving him our first try either!” She let out an easy laugh, but Mia looked on at the older princess slightly mortified. “I mean, seriously, if Saiyan and Human genes were so incompatible, how come a hybrid between them is so easy to conceive?” Mia shook her head, unsure of how to answer. Chi Chi kept laughing as she joked, “Maybe Bulma needs to do some more research on the matter than just giving her scientific opinion as fact.” Mia didn’t look up from her drink.

After an awkward silence hung between them, Chi Chi piped up again, stating, “I’m a little relieved now that I know Gohan did propose out of love, not obligation.” Another moment of silence hung before Chi Chi asked, “Can I see the ring?”

Mia slowly drifted a shaky left hand over to her, which Chi Chi grabbed kindly. “Oh, honey, there’s no reason to be scared,” she chided softly, rubbing small circles into Mia’s hand. Chi Chi held up Mia’s hand to the light, seeing the shine on the gems gleam. “It does complement you very well.”

“Thank you,” Mia said blankly, still almost catatonic from the whirlwind of emotions running through her mind.

“I’ve got to say,” Chi Chi continued, placing Mia’s hand back in her lap, “when Gohan came here the other day asking for the ring, he was the happiest I’d seen him in a long time. It was like I was seeing my little boy again before all this tragedy struck.” She patted Mia’s hand as she added, “I wanted to tell you thank you for that.” Mia nodded blankly again.

After another moment of awkward silence, Chi Chi stood up. “Well, dinner isn’t going to cook itself!” she announced, making her way back to the kitchen. The Ox King didn’t say anything, but gestured that he was following Chi Chi to the kitchen. Mia didn’t really take notice of it, stuck in her thoughts of how this had happened. How could she have a baby? With the androids being a constant threat, did they even want to have a baby? What did this mean for them? Clearly, it was a game changer, but was it something they could handle?

Gohan landed and burst through the door like a tornado. He held a bag full of pregnancy tests in one hand as he spluttered nervously, “I wasn’t sure which one to get.” Mia hopped up off the couch wordlessly, taking the bag from him and waltzing to the back of the house to find a bathroom. Gohan followed after her, dropping the four extra bags of groceries on the table, barely able to keep up with Mia’s brisk pace. She shut the bathroom door before Gohan could get in. He nodded to himself, realizing he probably didn’t need to be in the bathroom with her while she took the test. He stared at the door for a moment, before beginning to pace along the upstairs hallway. It didn’t seem all that real to him. Minutes seemed more like hours as he paced along the hallway.

His gaze fell on his old bedroom door, and he moved to look at it. The old wooden door creaked open from disuse, and he flicked on the light. The room needed to be dusted, but other than that, it looked exactly as he’d left it the last time he lived there. His bed still made just beside the bedroom door. The dresser sitting right next to the closet to the left. A towering book shelf attached to the far wall, with a desk peeking out from under it, the sun peeking through the window. The books there were dusty and old, all the way up to 12th grade Calculus, which he’d finished at fourteen. He remembered those days, his mother pushing so hard for him to be an academic while the world fell apart around them. When he finished all levels of basic education, he quit, focusing only on training and fighting. Needing to find a way to beat the androids. He remembered that last argument between his mother and him when he told her he wasn’t going to become a scholar. He ran away that night to train with Master Roshi, then Korin, and Mr. Popo. That was nine years ago, and the last glimpse of his room had never changed.

Seeing his room like this, the memories it brought back, he wondered what a future would hold for him and Mia. Especially if they were to become parents.

The bathroom door opened, and he sprung back to the bathroom hurriedly. She didn’t step out, so he took that as an invitation in. She stood next to the bathtub her arms crossed as she looked perplexed at the toilet seat lid, where all eight tests where laid out in a line. She didn’t say anything as he bent over to take a look. Two bold pink double lines. One bold blue double lines. Two plus signs. One “Yes +.” And one “3+ weeks.” The last one in big bold letters read, “PREGNANT.” He straightened up, his heart pounding with trepidation, and his mind whirring with the realization. This was real.

“They’re all positive,” Mia stated, chewing on the inside of her cheek. She looked at him and saw a tear slip down his cheek as he bit his bottom lip. “Gohan?”

Before she could register what he was doing, he pulled her into a tight hug, a few of his tears dripping onto her shoulder. But the feeling radiating off him wasn’t sadness, fear, or nerves. It was brilliant giddy happiness at this small miracle. _I’m gonna be a dad!_


	3. Part 3: Kyrie

 

AN: Another 30 pager. Definitely why it took so long. Also, for anyone asking if I plan on updating this, yes. This story is shorter than the main though, only being 4 parts and an epilogue. The next part shouldn’t take nearly as long though.

Please enjoy this installment, and as always review, favorite, etc.

 

Disclaimer: All DBZ content is owned by Akira Toriyama, Funimation, and Toei Animation.

 

Part Three: _Kyrie_

 _Kyrie eleison._ “ _Lord, have mercy on us.”_

 

As they stood in the bathroom, still hugging each other as Gohan tried his best to control his happy sobbing, the feelings coursing through him into her made Mia realize this was the best thing to ever happen to them. Sure, this baby wasn’t planned, but neither were she and Gohan, apparently. On top of that, this was a bona fide miracle. Gohan was the first Saiyan hybrid ever to have offspring.

Gohan pulled away, sniffling a small, “Sorry,” as he rubbed his eyes dry of tears. He was still grinning from the news. He lowered his hand to her belly, then asked, “May I?”

Mia smiled at him weirdly as she replied, “It’s your baby, too. You don’t need to ask.”

He nodded, kneeling down with his hands on her slightly protruding belly. “Hello in there,” he said softly. “It’s me, Daddy. We can’t wait to meet you.” His head rested lightly on her bump, and her fingers found their way into his hair, rubbing small soothing circles into his scalp.

Then her stomach rumbled, loudly, sounding like a dying whale. He pulled away, pursing his lips to keep from smiling as he stood, grasping Mia’s hand as he said, “Let’s go tell everyone and get some food.” Mia nodded, putting the tests back in the bag to toss them in the trash. She followed him back out to the living area, where Chi Chi and Ox King sat at the loaded dining room table, eagerly awaiting Gohan and Mia’s return to the room.

Chi Chi eyed them carefully as she asked, “So, what’d it say?”

Gohan smiled, squeezing her hand as he announced, “They said we’re having a baby!”

Chi Chi jumped up excitedly, squealing as she pulled them in for a hug. “I knew it! I just knew it!”

“Congrats, you two!” the Ox King beamed.

Chi Chi quickly guided them back to the table, and Gohan pulled out a chair for Mia, pushing it in carefully. “So, do you have any guesses on when the baby would be here?” Mia and Gohan shot odd looks at Chi Chi as she continued, “Well, we have to plan the wedding, and you don’t want all that wedding stress happening right before the baby comes.”

Mia frowned, knowing exactly what Chi Chi was talking about. She’d helped plan her best friend, Libby’s wedding last year. It didn’t go well. Libby had a break down from all the drama and called off the wedding, then went backpacking across the world. Mia hadn’t heard from her since. Mia made a mental note to try and get in contact with her as soon as possible. She let out an agreeable sigh as she turned to Gohan and offered, “We could get married after the baby.”

“Absolutely not!” Chi Chi shrieked, causing everyone at the table to jump as she snapped up from the table, glaring at her son. “I will not have my first grandchild born out of wedlock! You hear me, Gohan!?”

Gohan nodded nervously, clearly afraid of his mother. Mia frowned shaking her head. “Well, then that doesn’t leave a lot of time. Saiyan pregnancies are a lot shorter than human ones,” Mia explained.

Chi Chi frowned, confused. “How much shorter?”

Mia chewed the inside of her lip as she answered, “Usually, saiyan women only carry for up to Six months. If my math is correct, the baby will be here sometime in July.”

Gohan’s eyes flew wide as he rasped, “July!? But it’s only March!”

Mia nodded, adding, “At the latest, it could be early August. But yeah, July.”

Chi Chi frowned, then muttered, “Huh. Six months. That explains a lot.”

“So, you think you’re a little over two months along?” Gohan asked, ignoring his mother.

“It would line up with the last time I was in heat,” Mia replied, adding a little quietly, “I remember that a little better than when my last period was.” Gohan blushed. Mia smiled at his reaction a little before adding, “But we’d need to get it confirmed by a doctor first. Someone who knows Saiyan physiology, which I doubt exist on Earth.”

“What about Bulma?” Chi Chi asked.

Mia frowned. “Bulma’s not a doctor.”

“But she does have the necessary equipment to make an accurate prediction,” Gohan offered, tapping a finger against the table. “We’ll be seeing her right after this, anyway.”

Mia shot her fiancé an odd look as she asked, “Will we?”

“Yeah,” Gohan replied, standing from his chair. “I’ll go call her, see if she can get it ready.”

He was already walking into the other room as Chi Chi called after him, “Don’t be too long! The food’s going to get cold!” She huffed, looking back to the table, pointing to the food and saying, “Well, dig in.”

No one expected the tenacity at which Mia attacked the food with. Clearly, skipping breakfast had been a bad idea. She devoured half of the food by the time Gohan got back from his phone call, and even he joined his mother and grandfather in staring wide-eyed at Mia’s voracious appetite. “O mah gah,” she said around her full mouth as she shoveled in more food. “Thi ih o goo!” She slowed as she noticed everyone’s shocked faces on her, and she put her plate of food down. She swallowed and wiped her mouth with her napkin, muttering a small, “Sorry. We skipped breakfast.” Chi Chi shot her son a slightly disappointed look, and he shook his head. Had he known she was pregnant, of course he would have pushed for them to go ahead and eat something before they left, but they were rushing to get here in the first place.

He remained silent as he started eating his food, watching his fiancé carefully as she did her best to control her food intake to not be so off-putting.

*~*~*

As they landed at Capsule Corp., they were greeted on the front lawn by Bulma, Trunks, and Siyaka. Bulma looked so excited that she was going to burst. She pursed her lips, as if keeping them pressed together so tightly would prevent the pregnancy news that Gohan had informed her about an hour before from slipping. Meanwhile Trunks looked less than enthused about being dragged outside, and Siyaka looked content. She clearly expected to hear some news, like their engagement. Gohan set Mia down carefully, asking her quietly, “You ok?” She nodded her answer eagerly, crossing her arms defensively over herself to hide her bump as much as possible. “Do you want to tell them, or …” he trailed off.

“You can tell them,” Mia said quietly, still smiling.

“Right,” he sighed, turning to the group with a grin, and putting an arm around his fiancé. “Well, she said ‘Yes.’” Mia took that as her queue to show off her new ring that gleamed off her finger.

Siyaka stepped forward first, smiling as if she knew that was going to happen. She grabbed Mia’s hand gently to inspect the ring, as was custom for humans. She followed another human custom by asking, “So when’s the big day.”

Mia smiled nervously as she replied, “We’re looking at some time before the baby’s due.”

Siyaka’s wide-eyed gaze shot up to look into her daughter’s laughing eyes, as Mia’s other hand caressed her slightly protruding belly. Siyaka dropped her daughter’s hand in shock, looking to Gohan as he announced, “And yes, we’re having a baby. Mia’s pregnant.” Trunks looked at his mentor, his face matching Siyaka’s wide-eyed stunned look.

Bulma, however, bounced up to them giddily as she said, “Thank God you told them, because I was about to burst! I’m so happy for you two!” She pulled Gohan into a tight embrace, almost to where he couldn’t breathe.

“I noticed,” he rasped, patting her on the shoulder.

“Wait a minute!” Siyaka snapped, glaring at the blue-haired scientist, “You knew!?”

Bulma let go of Gohan, sheepishly explaining, “Gohan called me a little over an hour ago and asked me to set up the ultrasound machine.” Siyaka continued to frown at her as Bulma added, “I wanted to tell you! But it was their news.”

Siyaka huffed, a little perturbed to have found out after Bulma. “So, when is the baby due?”

Gohan smiled at Siyaka as he replied, “That’s what we need the ultrasound for. Bulma?”

“Right this way,” Bulma replied, extending her arm towards the large building in a show-off-ie way. Everyone followed her back to the lab where all the equipment was set up. As Gohan helped Mia onto the patient table, grabbing a modesty blanket to cover her as the scientist lifted up her yellow jersey dress, Bulma commented, “Gohan told me something about Saiyans having shorter pregnancy terms. So, can either you elaborate?”

“Saiyans carry for up to six months, or twenty-four to twenty-six weeks,” Siyaka replied, her arms crossed as she focused on the screen, still not entirely sure she believed that Mia was pregnant, even though her daughter’s protruding belly did seem to beg to differ. “That’s not including the extra two weeks you humans add to the first month. Saiyans usually marked the beginning of pregnancy by last heat, or ovulation as you call it.”

“It’s going to be cold,” Bulma whispered to Mia as she squirted the jelly onto Mia’s belly. Bulma frowned as she replied to Siyaka, “How do you know when ovulation has taken place?” For humans, it could vary to almost any time in the month, depending on hormones, vitamins, and regular health.

“Smell,” Gohan answered, blushing a little. “At least that’s how I first found out about it.”

Bulma frowned, clearly confused as Siyaka continued for him, “When Saiyan women go in heat, there are several signs, like our scent, the fever, aggressiveness, even our dreams.”

“So, like a dog?” Bulma asked in order to clarify. Gohan gave a small nod while Siyaka and Mia shot her tired glares. “Huh,” Bulma sighed as she applied the wand to Mia’s belly. “Learn something new every day.” The cloudy image of Mia’s womb popped up on the large computer screen Bulma hooked up to. Inside looked to be a small baby, and Bulma started marking where each of the baby’s body parts were. The legs, the spine, the hands. The baby seemed to roll, turning away from the ultrasound wand, and Bulma huffed as she maneuvered around, and recorded the baby’s heartbeat. Gohan squeezed Mia’s hand as the thump-thumps of their baby’s heart echoed around the room. Finally, Bulma took some measurements, which then calculated the fetus’s age to be 13 weeks and 5 days.

Gohan’s eyes flew wide at the 13 weeks flashing on the screen. “Is she actually thirteen weeks along?” He was hardly able to believe that.

Bulma looked at the screen, then let out a small laugh. “Eh. That’s how far she is in comparison to a human pregnancy. Just reaching the second trimester. But she’s a Saiyan, so –” Gohan was still frowning, but Bulma smiled at them as she said, “Just hold on one second. I’ve got to do some separate math to figure out how long she’s been pregnant and the due date.” The blue-haired scientist stepped away, writing some numbers down on a pad, and tacking away into a calculator. She let out a sigh, holding up her notepad as she announced, “If my math is correct, she’s about 7 and a half to 8 weeks along, making her due, according to Saiyan physiology, July 20th … give or take a week.”

“Told you,” Mia sighed, grabbing a few tissues on a small table next to the gurney, and wiping off the gel. She frowned as she contemplated the few weeks left to plan their wedding and getting ready for a baby.

Gohan eyed her worriedly as he asked, “Are you alright?”

Mia nodded, muttering a small, “Yeah … I just need to use the phone.” Gohan gave her a small supportive smile. They had discussed the wedding party at least on the way, and she’d expressed her discomfort with the call she’d have to make. Mia looked to Bulma, who pointed back to the living area where their phone sat.

Mia walked out and sat in a chair by the phone as she dialed the number she’d memorized since she was a kid in school. The phone rang once … twice. “Hello?” a douchey voice answered that Mia would recognize anywhere. She bristled at its sound.

“Hey, Sharpener. It’s Mia,” she started, her grip tightening on the phone a little as she prepared herself for another one of his obnoxious comments.

“Mia…” he trawled. She could hear his smirk in his tone. She could hear some chuckles and whooping behind him. He’d put her phone call on blast, and was clearly hanging with some old high school buddies. “Just couldn’t get enough of me, eh? Well, I’ll admit, I wouldn’t mind getting in those pants again.”

Mia could barely keep her eyes from rolling. “I’m pregnant, Sharpener.”

His buddies hissed and oh’ed at the revelation, as Sharpener yelled over them. “NO! No! It’s not mine! I never touched her! I NEVER TOUCHED YOU!!!”

“Well, it’s good to hear you finally admit the truth,” Mia laughed. His crowd laughed behind him. Mia rolled her eyes again. Her old classmates were such children. “Look, I’m calling for Libby. Do you have any way of contacting her?”

“She’s here,” he answered angrily. “So, are you actually pregnant?”

Mia let out a bark of a laugh as she replied, “Like I’d tell you! Can you put her on the line, please?”

He huffed, then called out, “LIBBY! MIA’S ON THE PHONE!!!” Just like he used to back in high school. Things never really did change, did they?

“Mia!?” Libby asked excitedly. “Oh my god! You aren’t actually pregnant!? Are you?”

Mia frowned into the phone, hearing Sharpener still breathing over the line. “Fuck off, Sharpener!” Mia snapped. She heard him growl, then hang up, and Mia knew the call was now just between her and her best friend.

“Well!?” Libby jumped, clearly eager to hear what the fuss was about.

Mia rolled her eyes again. Her best friend could get really overexcited sometimes. “Yes, I’m pregnant. But that’s not …” Libby screamed into the phone, and Mia had to pull it away from her ear to prevent hearing loss. “Libby,” she tried, but Libby was incoherently whooping and screaming. “LIBBY!!!”

“I’m sorry,” Libby said, a little breathless, like she’d just run laps around the house. She probably did. “This is just so exciting! I’m pregnant, too!”

Mia’s face fell a little at the news. She hadn’t heard of Libby being with a guy since her ex, Penn. “You’re pregnant?” Mia asked, a little confused.

“Yeah!” Libby replied giddily. “I decided to head back home after I found out. It’s a girl. I’m due in June!”

Mia’s mind was a blank as she let out a small, “Uh…”

“What? I don’t get a congrats!?” Libby snapped all of a sudden.

“Nonono! I’m really happy for you!” Mia replied quickly, doing her best to cover up her confused tone. “It’s just … I didn’t know you were with anyone?”

“Oh, I’m not,” Libby laughed, as if the idea was silly. “I just had a one night stand. … Well, a couple one night stands, because, you know me. And then boom, pregnant.” Mia nodded blankly as she held the receiver. That was like Libby. If she wasn’t in a committed relationship, that didn’t mean she wasn’t getting laid by someone. She had “needs,” as she would say. “What about you? When are you due!”

“Uh …” Mia said brokenly, “July … late July.”

“AH!” Libby squealed excitedly. “That’s great! So, do you know what you’re having? You should.”

“Actually, it’s a little early for that,” Mia stated, sheepishly. “Remember, me not being human, my pregnancy is quite a bit faster than average.”

“Huh,” Libby replied, “so Mooney’s get a faster pregnancy than the rest of us. So not fair.”

“What’s a ‘Mooney’?” Sharpner asked. “Are you some type of freaky alien!?”

“GET OFF THE LINE!!!!” Mia and Libby screamed into the phone. Gohan peeked his head out into the living area to see what the issue was, and she waved him off. Mia grumbled into the phone, muttering, “I swear, if he wasn’t your brother, I’d have killed him by now.”

Libby laughed. “Is that all that’s stopping you?” she joked. They calmed down a little before Libby asked, “So, I didn’t know you were with anyone, either. I also didn’t think you could have kids with humans, period, and that’s why you didn’t date … Did you find another Mooney!?”

“Well, apparently they can. And, yeah. I kinda did,” Mia answered. “My fiancé is a Saiyan-human hybrid.”

“Wait, fiancé!?” Libby started.

“Which brings me back to why I was calling,” Mia said over her. “And before you ask, we found out after he proposed. But yes, I’m getting married, and I want you to be my maid of honor.”

“OF COURSE I WILL!” Libby replied emphatically. “I gotta repay you for how you helped me through that fiasco last year!”

“I’d hardly call ‘Flying you to North City,’ helping you through that,” Mia snarked.

“If it wasn’t for you pulling me away from the whole situation to clear my head, I would have gone back to that cheating asshole in a month, and you know it!” Libby argued. Mia smiled a little at that. Libby always gave her a little too much credit, sometimes even calling Mia her Jiminy Cricket. That was something Mia hoped would never change between them. “So! When’s the big day?”

“That’s the thing,” Mia sighed. “Now that I’m pregnant, it’s kind of pushed up our time-table. We haven’t picked a date yet, but it will be soon.”

“So, we need to do dress shopping like yesterday,” Libby surmised. “How about tomorrow?”

Mia pursed her lips, and looked to her Mom, who had sat down on the living room couch with Gohan, Bulma and Trunks looking on at her phone call. “Is tomorrow good, Mom?”

Siyaka eyed her daughter warily as she asked, “For what?”

“Wedding dress shopping.”

Siyaka frowned, before uttering a small, “Sure. Why not.”

“Ok, so I’ll see you tomorrow!” Libby said.

“Oh,” Mia started, self-consciously, “Uhm, I can’t really fly. It’s a pregnancy thing. Can you come pick us up?”

“Ah, well, my car is … well … let’s just say it’s out of commission. I’ll see if I can borrow Sharpener’s,” Libby replied cheerfully. “See ya tomorrow!”

“See you,” Mia breathed into the receiver, but Libby was already gone. She hung up, shaking her head. She looked at Gohan, who eyed her strangely. She let out a calming breath, then smiled as she said, “You’re turn.”

Gohan chewed the inside of his cheek as he nodded, turning to the purple haired hybrid. “Well, Trunks,” he started, “you’re the closest thing I have to a brother, and being Mia’s little brother, it makes you the ideal candidate to be my best man.” The hybrid teen whooped and cheered, earning a disapproving look from his mother which calmed him down. Gohan grinned as he said, “I’m guessing that’s a yes?” Trunks nodded eagerly, and Gohan smiled. “That’s everyone,” he stated, turning to Mia who nodded, smiling at her beaming brother.

*~*~*

“What about May?” Gohan offered as he leaned on the wall in the hallway. Siyaka was already in her room, reading a book likely. The light underneath her door shone a little, noting she was still awake. The water in the bathroom ran as Mia brushed her teeth. “It’ll be two months before your due.”

Mia spat out her foamed up toothpaste and sipped some water, rinsing her teeth before spitting it out again. She shook her head as she turned off the water. “No, I’ll be way pregnant then.”

He shot her an odd smile as he remarked, “You’re way pregnant now.”

She frowned at him as she passed him back into their room. “I mean visibly pregnant. I’m not quite there yet.”

He followed her in, taking in the vision of her in her royal blue nightgown, marveling at how her skin seemed to glow against the color. He inhaled a little, enjoying the altered scent of her pure honeysuckle, no musk. A piece of his mind told him he should have known before today. It was so obvious. He shut the door with a sigh, “So, it needs to be soon then.”

Mia nodded her answer as she pulled her braid out and brushed her wild hair. Gohan smiled a little more at that. He always loved when she let her hair down. “So, how soon?” he asked.

She shrugged, saying, “I’ll _really_ start showing by the end of the month.”

“If you want to elope, just say the word,” he joked, starting to undress for bed.

Mia laughed with him, turning to him with a smile as she replied, “You know your mom would kill us.”

“I think you mean your mom would kill us,” Gohan said as he pulled her into a small embrace against his bare chest, giving her a small peck on the lips. “You know, I’ve never seen you so beautiful,” he breathed, running his nails up and down her arms.

She raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. “Mr. Son, I believe you’re trying to seduce me.” Gohan smiled at her as she continued, “It won’t work. My future husband will be quite remiss to find my virtue not intact on our wedding night.”

He silenced her with a kiss, their minds connecting as he laughingly thought, _I think it’s a bit late for that._ She smiled as she fell into the kiss, standing on her tippy toes just to meet his lips. His hands fell to her hips as they maneuvered back to the bed, their tongues still battling against each other. He could feel through the cloth of her thin nightie that the only fabric on her body was the nightie itself. Her tail unfurled, reaching around for his. His tail fell from his waist and found hers, twisting around it as they knotted together, the skin under the fur tingling at the contact. He picked her up, and gently laid her on the bed, her legs pulling up to wrap around his waist. He could feel her need for him inside her. _It’s a shame we can’t go through with it tonight,_ he thought, still running his hands over her form as his mind filled with worries about hurting the baby in the throes of passion.

Mia pulled away, giving him a weird look as she asked, “What makes you think that?”

He frowned back at her, pulling slightly away as he replied, “Sex is bad for a pregnant woman.”

Mia stared at him blankly, before laughing out loud. When he still looked confused, she stopped with a small, “Oh, you’re serious.” She licked her lips as she tried to calm down her laughter. “Sex isn’t bad for pregnancy. It’s actually really healthy for it,” she replied. When he still looked confused, she explained, “It works out the muscles women use to deliver the baby.” She could feel through their mind link that he understood what she was saying, but he wasn’t convinced. “Just look at it like you’re helping me train for going into labor.”

He completely pulled away from her, still frowning at her as he crossed his arms. “What?” she asked.

“I feel like you’d actually just say anything to get into my pants right now,” he stated, and Mia balked at him in response. “I could feel how much you wanted it. And I’m not comfortable putting our kid’s life in danger because we couldn’t hold off a couple months.”

Mia stared at him as if he’d gone insane. “You won’t hurt the baby,” she argued.

He frowned at her, and said, “How can you be certain?”

“Because you didn’t last night, or any other time in the last eight weeks.”

“We didn’t know you were pregnant then.”

“That doesn’t mean I wasn’t pregnant at those times, though. 8 weeks of pregnant sex, sometimes rough pregnant sex, and the baby is fine.” Mia argued back. He pursed his lips and looked away, knowing exactly what time she was referring to. Second official date almost seven weeks ago, his apartment, pinning her against the bookshelf. Then again on the ceiling to see if it was possible, which left a hole. Then again almost breaking the bed. There were other nights, but that one had the record for bruises, rug-burns and hickeys between them. “And you’ve never hurt me in the first place,” Mia stated pointedly. “As powerful as you are, you’ve never had to hold back from me because you know I can take it. My body was built to take it. I’m a Saiyan.” He looked to the ground as she continued, “I could understand being worried about it if I were just a human girl. But I’m not, so don’t treat me as one.”

He nodded tiredly, muttering, “Maybe we should just go to bed.”

“You’re really not going to have sex with me until the baby’s born?” she groused, scowling at him. He pursed his lips and let out a huff. “Not even when we get married?” Again, he huffed, rolling his eyes a little at her tone. “Fine,” she grumbled getting under the sheets and fluffing her pillow, clearly annoyed at him.

“Look, I know you’re a Saiyan, and that you’re tough, but …” he tried, walking over to the bed, trying to get her to face him. She wouldn’t, as she pulled her sheets up snuggly as she flipped to her other side just to not look at him. He frowned again, and said, “You’re being really petty right now.”

“And you’re being stupid.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn’t sure why she was being like this, but at the same time he could smell the honeysuckle rolling off her, just as the scent did when she was in heat. And while the scent still made him aroused, it wasn’t as strong as before. He didn’t get visions of them “in flagrante,” but instead just urges to be intimate. Maybe pregnant Saiyans experienced a heightened sexual drive, which could explain the scent she gave off. If that was the case, maybe pregnancy sex wasn’t something to worry about, if nature promoted it. He shook his head free of those thoughts as he said, “At least let me do my own research on the matter.”

She answered his notion with silence. His shoulders drooped, and he moved to turn off the light and opened the bedroom door. “Where are you going?”

He looked back into the dark room confused, where he could feel her eyes on him. “I figured I’d sleep on the couch, given the argument.”

“Stop being ridiculous,” Mia huffed, and he heard her pull the sheets and duvet aside, inviting him to bed. He gave a small smile as he shut the door and joined her back in the bed, holding her close to him as they spooned. They were silent as they held each other, his nose in her hair as he took in the honeysuckle scent. His heart pounded as the scent filled his senses. He still marveled at the effect this woman had on him. “I’ll give you until our wedding night,” she whispered.

“Hm?” he asked sleepily.

She turned in his arms to face him, her eyes shining with determination as he blinked at her wearily. “If it makes you that uncomfortable, we won’t have sex the whole pregnancy except for our wedding night. I won’t negotiate on that.”

He blinked at her a moment before replying, “Deal.”

She nodded, closing her eyes to drift off, adding, “And no complaining from you if I get bitchier than normal. My libido is through the roof, thanks to being pregnant. So, my attitude is nobody’s fault but your own.”

“I remember,” Gohan said with a smirk, remembering how mean she was the first few weeks they knew each other. She slapped his shoulder lightly, and he chuckled in return, “In four weeks, we’ll get married and…”

Mia’s eyes shot wide open as she scoffed, “Four weeks? You trying to push it off as long as possible? One week, we’ll get married.”

“We cannot plan a wedding in a week,” he argued, closing his eyes again. “Three weeks, we’ll get married.”

She scowled as she said, “Two weeks, or the no sex deal is off the table.” He frowned at her renegotiating, and she added, “In three weeks, I’ll definitely be visible. And I don’t want you weaseling out of your husbandly duties because I’ve gotten too fat.”

He laughed as he said, “Now you’re being ridiculous.”

“Or because you felt the baby kick! Because that’s when _that_ starts,” she argued further. He gave a look telling her that she wasn’t wrong if that happened. She slapped his shoulder again, and he let out a small surprised, “Ow.” “Two weeks.”

“Fine, two weeks. Jeez,” he groused, rubbing his shoulder. “We’ll get married in two weeks from today and consummate the marriage on our wedding night, even though the whole reason behind marital consummation has now been rendered moot,” he teased her in the last bit, rubbing her slightly swollen belly. She slapped him lightly again in the same spot, and he grumbled, “Would you stop that?”

“I will, if you promise to go through with the wedding night, even though I’m already pregnant,” she replied, clearly steamed by his teasing.

He looked her in the eyes as he replied, “I promise. Now can we please go to sleep?” She seemed satisfied with his answer, and turned back to spoon against him again. “Now all we need to do is figure out where,” he muttered sleepily.

“Later,” she said, dozing off in his arms.

“I know where,” he mumbled as he began to doze off.

Mia smiled, snuggling into his arms as she replied equally tired, “Where?”

“The lake near my parents’ house,” he breathed, holding her tightly. “It’s perfect.”

“Sounds like it,” Mia sighed. “Sleep.”

*~*~*

The next morning, things started as usual. Mia woke up first, putting together a large meal for the three Saiyans … four? She’d turned on an old cd, and swayed to the music as she cooked the two dozen scrambled eggs with cheese and ham, four packs of bacon, and sixty pancakes. She had already hefted out the large griddle so she could cook four pancakes at a time. She had two pans going for the eggs, and the oven cooking the bacon. Occassionally, she’d start humming with the music as she moved, flipping the pancakes and moving platters to the table.

“What are you doing?” Gohan asked, leaning on the entryway wall. Mia squealed in fright, jumping at his sudden appearance.  He gave an entertaining smile as she glowered at him, setting some of the food on the table.

“Don’t scare me like that!” Mia chided as she went back to the kitchen. She had to catch her breath a little as she started to cook again. The hot air was getting to her, pushing her into a dizzy spell. She’d been getting those a lot recently. Another sign she should have picked up on.

Gohan noted her bracing herself against the counter for a minute, and said, “Look, you’re pregnant. You should sit down. I’ll finish this for you.”

Mia shook her head as she replied, “Do you even know how to cook?”

Although, she let him pull her away from the kitchen to sit down at the table. He moved back into the kitchen as he replied, “I was learning advanced trigonometry by the time I was four. Fairly certain I can figure this out.”

She lifted her hands in mock surrender as she replied, “Well excuse me, Mr. Smarty-Pants.” After a few moments of silence as Gohan looked over the directions on the bisquik box Mia had used to make the pancakes. She looked away, rolling her eyes at his frantic but failing attempts to cook. She could smell smoke in the air. “Don’t let the eggs burn,” Mia ordered, picking at her fingernails. If he was going to be this overprotective, she’d let him handle things. She could play the feckless pregnant housewife, if that’s what he wanted.

She heard him stirring the eggs in the pan. “Eggs are fine. But something is burning,” he stated, looking around the kitchen.

“Check the bacon,” Mia instructed, still picking at her nails. She shot a glance over at him, seeing him look around the stove helplessly. “In the oven,” she clarified, laughing at his incompetence.

He opened the oven door, and a plume of smoke puffed out as he pulled out the sizzling bacon. She could see the strips from where she sat, and she frowned. “They’re crispy. Might as well toss them.”

“What are you talking about!?” Gohan laughed, proceeding to pull the bacon off with a fork. “Crispy bacon is the best bacon.”

Mia laughed. “You must have never had flimsy bacon then.”

“Ugh,” he retched in reply. “I like my bacon trichinosis free.”

“I’ve never gotten sick,” Mia commented. She shrugged as he finished putting that pan of bacon on a plate, reaching over to the first batch of bacon she prepared earlier, which was flimsy and perfect. “Well, you can enjoy your burnt bacon, and I will enjoy these beautiful flimsy strips,” she stated, holding up a flimsy piece of bacon. He frowned at her as she took a bite and gave a small moan as the salty meat hit her tongue. The fat melted right in her mouth, and the meat was just the right amount of tender and juicy. “Perfect.”

Gohan rolled his eyes as he placed the pile of dark crispy bacon in the spot he was planning on sitting in, just before kneeling, his hand over Mia’s pregnant belly as he stated, “Mommy doesn’t know what she’s talking about. I’ll show you how bacon should be eaten when you’re out.”

Siyaka cleared her throat, drawing their attention away from the discussion of bacon. “I don’t know what I walked in on, but where’s the coffee?” Mia pointed to the coffee maker on the counter, it’s pot already full to the brim. Siyaka nodded, groggily making her way to the coffee pot, grabbing a mug and pouring the black liquid in. She took a sip and sighed. “That hits the spot.” She made her way to the table, and Gohan went back to cooking.

Mia smiled at her mom as she said, “I think you’ll side with me on this one. How do you like your bacon: crispy or flimsy?”

“I like my bacon edible,” Siyaka stated boredly into her mug as she went to take another sip of coffee. She watched Gohan flip the pancakes carefully. Once he flipped all four, she turned to Mia, “So, what’s the plan today?”

“Libby is going to pick us up in a couple hours. She said she knows some shops that sell wedding dresses off the rack that she looked at for her wedding,” Mia answered, tapping a finger on the wooden table absently.

Gohan set the last of the food on the table as another set of pancakes cooked. They were only at 40 of 60. Mia had been keeping count. But they started digging in all the same. “So, ‘Ibby’s marrie’?” Gohan asked through a mouthful of pancake. Mia shook her head as she swallowed her mouthful.

Siyaka and Mia slowed their chewing as the older Saiyan answered, “No. She was supposed to last year, but the _whole_ ceremony went up in flames.”

He looked between the two women worriedly before Mia grabbed his wrist reassuringly as she said, “Not literal flames. There was so much drama in the days leading up to the ceremony that she left the guy at the altar.”

Gohan pouted as he breathed, “Poor guy.”

Mia gave a small disagreeing wince as Siyaka let out a bark of laughter. Gohan looked at them as if they were heartless before Mia explained, “The final straw for Libby was when the guy’s ex-girlfriend, Angela, showed up when Libby was getting ready and told her she was pregnant with the guy’s baby. When Libby confronted him about it, he confessed to cheating on her the past couple months, and knew about the baby. She punched him in the face, then shut herself up in her dressing room. When she came out, she handed a letter to Sharpner to hand to the groom. Then she asked me to fly her anywhere, as long as it was far away and would take her too long to get home on her own. So I flew her to North City, where I stuck with her for a few weeks before I returned home. She wanted to go backpacking solo across the world and ‘find herself.’ And I hadn’t heard from her since.”

“So, you called her twin, Sharpener?” Gohan filled in, eyeing Siyaka for a reaction, surprised to find none. Mia had told him about how back in school, Sharpener had ruined her reputation to bolster his own. Not to mention the frequent lewd comments he’d say to her, about her. He bristled just thinking about it. Gohan couldn’t explain the territorial anger he felt towards this man he never met, other than his love for Mia. She didn’t seem to mind though, telling the hybrid she got over his behavior years ago.

But it did speak volumes that Siyaka didn’t mention anything about the other man, or even react. Mia told him her mother didn’t know much about what went on when she was in high school, because Mia didn’t want Siyaka overreacting. But absolutely nothing?

Mia shot him a look as if she were reading his mind, and didn’t like what he was thinking. He sighed, resolving to let it go. Mia could handle herself. But, if he did ever get the chance to run into Sharpner, a look wasn’t going to stop the hybrid from speaking his mind.

*~*~*

Gohan cleared the table while Mia and Siyaka got dressed for their wedding dress shopping trip. Mia was already starting to put on her makeup, her hair already done up in a braid, and dressed in another jersey dress with some ballet flats. Siyaka was finished, helping Gohan with the dishes. She wore a dressy blouse with jeans and boots, and that was about how dressy the Jicama matriarch got. She and Gohan almost had the kitchen completely cleaned from breakfast by the time the doorbell rang. Siyaka moved to answer it, only to be stopped by Mia running out and opening the front door before her mother could.

Mia greeted the young woman at the door with a high-pitched squeal and a big hug, causing Gohan’s eyes to go wide, amused by the sight. He wasn’t sure what to expect by Mia’s earlier description of Libby. She had medium blond hair that cascaded down to her waist in wavy curls, vivid light brown eyes, and peachy skin. She had thick pouty lips pulled into a big grin, showing of pearly white teeth. She towered over Mia, standing near five foot eleven. She wore a pale pink sweater dress, black leggings and brown leather boots, all of which accented her large chest and large hips, which further accented her tiny waist, in spite of her large pregnant belly. Gohan’s eyes bugged at the sight. He shifted a gaze to Siyaka, who matched his expression. He felt a little relief at not being the only one out of that loop then.

The girls calmed down, and Mia led Libby back into the house as she said, “Libby, this is my fiancé, Son Gohan. Gohan, this is Libby.”

He blinked at her, before spluttering out a, “Hi,” thrusting his hand out.

The blonde beamed back at him as she slapped his hand lightly away. “Come here,” she chided, pulling him by surprise into a big hug, squeezing him tightly against her. Gohan shot a nervous glance to Mia who smiled at the two of them. He shrugged off his unease, and hugged the blonde back gently. Libby gave another squeeze then let go, stepping away and leaning to Mia as she whispered, “You left out how attractive he is.”

Gohan blushed while Mia smirked. “Well, you didn’t really ask about him yesterday.”

Libby waved Mia off as if what she said didn’t matter. She moved to check her watch, and commented, “Well, is everyone ready to go? It’s already almost 10:00, and we have 4 shops to hit. And Sharpener’s out with the car running.”

“You brought Sharpener?” Mia asked, her tone a mix between nervous and critical. Her gaze shifted to Gohan, who gave a semi-forced smile as he moved to the door.

“Yeah,” Libby replied, rolling her eyes. “He doesn’t want me driving his car, since it’s his baby. So, he’s playing chauffer for us, and …” Her gaze followed Gohan as the front door shut behind him, “…where is he going?”

Mia rolled her eyes, muttering a small, “Shit,” before snatching her purse and moving to run out behind her fiancé as best she could.

Gohan moved very quickly as he stalked up to the unsuspecting blond man. “Are you Sharpener?” he asked, not really needing an answer. He was the only one there. The blond man looked up a little confused as Gohan closed the distance between them, grabbing his forearm and dragging him away from his car in one fell motion.

“Wha-what the fuck!?” Sharpener growled, trying to shake the hybrid’s grip off, but only caused Gohan to tighten his grip. “OW! DUDE LET UP!!” Gohan let him go, allowing Sharpener to jump back a little settling into a boxing pose as he said, “Dude, you’re messing with the wrong man! I learned to fight straight from the Satan Dojo!”

“Listen up!” Gohan snapped, ignoring the blonde’s challenge. The man was too weak to fight him anyway. He dressed tough, wearing a tight black t-shirt that showed off his muscles, jeans and steel-toed boots, with his hair pulled back in a half ponytail and his strong jaw sporting thick stubble. But Gohan could sense that there was little to his actual strength, with his power level barely radiating off him. “Mia is my fiancé and you will respect that. If I even hear one uttering of you saying anything remotely degrading, there is not a doctor alive that will fix what I can do to you.” It seemed a little out of character for him, but sometimes his mother’s fury did come through, especially when it came to people he cared about. He was also feeling more protective of Mia now that she was carrying his baby. His eyes settled on Sharpener who seemed to shake a little at his words, knowing that the hybrid was telling the truth. “Are we clear?”

Sharpener gulped under Gohan’s intense gaze as he muttered, “Crystal.”

Gohan nodded, forcing a smile as he added, “Good. And drive safely. You’re carrying precious cargo.”

Sharpener frowned at that as Gohan turned to walk back to the car where the women waited for them, Mia with her hands on her hips. Sharpener’s eyes went wide as he saw Mia’s protruding belly. It wasn’t as far out as his sister’s, but she was clearly pregnant. Sharpener mumbled a small, “Uh-huh,” to himself as he walked back to his scarlet red jeep.

*~*~*

Two weeks had passed quickly, and Mia was finishing getting ready in a small capsule house Bulma had brought, so the pregnant women wouldn’t have that far to walk. She was finishing putting in her earrings as Libby fluffed out her dress, making sure the red belt was tied perfectly. The dress was a white satin and chiffon A-line with and empire waist, with the top styled with a crisscross heart shaped neckline with chiffon straps to hold Mia’s growing chest up. The dress also had a short train that trailed behind her slightly, and the skirt flowed gently over her bump. Mia’s hair was styled into an elegant braid with baby’s breath flowers woven in, matching her red rose and baby’s breath bouquet. She didn’t wear a veil, in favor of the flowers. And she wore some ruby earrings and a drop pendant that ChiChi had given her to match the engagement ring.

Shopping with Siyaka had been difficult, being adamant about Mia respecting Saiyan tradition in wearing red on their wedding, especially since she was marrying another Saiyan. Mia had tried to talk her down, seeing as this was an earthling ceremony, and the usual Saiyan traditions wouldn’t be a part of it. Mia was thankful for that. She could hardly imagine Gohan and her following through on the bedding ceremony, not to mention the blood mixing. Yeah, Mia could do without those. The red belt was enough to settle Siyaka’s demands, though, so Mia made sure the dress she got worked with it.

Since red and white was the color theme forced on them, Mia had Libby in a sleek red lace dress that fell gracefully over Libby’s large bump, but still fit her form really well, and ended just above her knees. The dress had a thin red satin belt and three-quarter length lace sleeves. Libby had her hair pulled back in a loose half braid away from her face. She’d be carrying a single red rose down the aisle with her.

“Oh,” ChiChi gushed as she walked back into the room. “You look breath-taking.” Siyaka sipped on some champagne, also brought by Bulma, in the corner, eyeing Mia bittersweetly. “Isn’t she gorgeous?”

Mia smiled at the complements as she finished putting the final touches on her outfit. Siyaka nodded, agreeing with Mia’s future mother-in-law. Siyaka wore a silver, pencil-skirt dress with a one-shoulder neckline, the fabric split at the chest and twisted to the back with ruching at the waist. Nothing like ChiChi, who wore a very conservative dress with a black silk top with golden filigree around her high collar and down her chest and a black velvet skirt that started just above the waist. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun with a gold piece in it, while Siyaka had done nothing with hers. Short Saiyan hair didn’t style well, according to Siyaka.

“So, have you started picking names,” ChiChi started eagerly, grabbing a glass of champagne to join Siyaka. Mia didn’t answer immediately, so ChiChi added, “Because I know Dad has a whole list of names that we didn’t use for Gohan. And the name I liked, Einstein, was immediately thrown out.” She said the last part a little bitterly, not noticing Siyaka almost spitting into her champagne flute mid-sip at the idea of “Son Einstein.”

“Uhm, actually yeah,” Mia started with a frown. She and Gohan had discussed it before, and she was wary about sharing it, knowing people would immediately start to judge it. Gohan was all for sharing the name they picked, and probably would after the ceremony.

Siyaka seemed to take an interest, only showing it mildly, but Mia knew her mother was more than curious. ChiChi was waiting with baited breath until she couldn’t take Mia’s silence anymore and asked, “Well?”

She didn’t look at her future mother-in-law as she sighed, “We don’t want people to judge it.”

ChiChi waved her off as she replied, “We won’t judge it!” Libby shrugged, curious for their decision as well.

“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours,” Libby offered, caressing her belly gently.

Mia smiled, chewing the inside of her cheek. “Fine,” Mia conceded, unable to bear the relentless stares. “What’s her name?”

Libby smiled as she replied, “Rulla, after my grandmother.”

The group hummed their appreciation of the name. “Rulla. That’s beautiful,” Mia replied sincerely, caressing her own bump. She let out a small sigh before explaining, “Gohan wanted to honor his old master, Piccolo, with a musical name. And I wanted a Saiyan name, so we picked a Saiyan name based off one of their string instruments, Bracken.” Siyaka smiled at her daughter, clearly happy they had chosen to follow their roots.

ChiChi shifted a little, seeming slightly uncomfortable with it, but not wanting to show it as she muttered a small, “Son Bracken. That’d be a great name for a boy. But what if it’s a girl.”

“Bracken is a unisex name,” Siyaka replied, and Mia nodded along with her mother’s answer. “My chambermaid at court was named Bracken.”

“Oh,” ChiChi said with a mix of a sigh and a huff. But she didn’t say anything else, as she took another slow sip of champagne. Mia got the sense she didn’t like the name, but since she had promised not to judge, ChiChi remained silent. _Better than “Son Einstein.”_ Mia suppressed an eyeroll just thinking about it.

There was a knock on the door, and the women all called out simultaneously, “Come in!”

The door opened slowly, and Trunks peeked in, his purple hair had been slicked back, and his blue eyes shone brightly under his large brow. Usually his hair hid his forehead and eyes, but Siyaka could see the boy had a similar widows peak to his father, looking a lot like him if not for his earthling traits. And his suit fit perfectly, but that was to be expected. Bulma was still the wealthiest and most connected woman in the entire world. She’d even tied his red tie in a Windsor knot, that he tugged at a little. He first looked at ChiChi and Siyaka, saying in a small voice, “I was told I needed to come seat you both.” The women finished their drinks as Trunks turned to his sister, a surprised smile on his face as he breathed out, “Wow. You look really pretty.”

Mia smiled at him, a little taken aback. Compliments weren’t really the norm between them. “Thanks?” She replied a little awkwardly. “You clean up pretty nice, too.” ChiChi and Siyaka maneuvered Trunks out before anything else could be said, and Mia let out a long sigh. She was a little nervous, and she didn’t know why. She had this weird sense that everything was changing, but when she thought about it logically, nothing would be different. Not until baby Bracken came. That was another two and a half months though.

Libby seemed to sense Mia’s worrying thoughts and placed a calming hand on her shoulder. “Hey, it’s just cold feet … and hormones.”

Mia let out a small chuckle, “I know. I just can’t stop thinking everything’s going to be different now.”

“Is it really, though?” Libby asked skeptically. “Gohan’s been pretty much living with you for the past couple months, right?”

Mia nodded. “I know. Just can’t shake the feeling.”

Libby let the statement hang in the air before asking, “So, are you going to go by Son Mia, or keep Mia Jicama?”

Mia frowned. “You know, we hadn’t discussed it. I’ll probably keep Mia Jicama, but Bracken will be Son Bracken.”

“Of course.”

Just then the door opened again, and Trunks peeked in. “It’s time,” he said nervously.

Mia smiled at her brother. “Thank you.” She grabbed her bouquet and Libby grabbed her rose tentatively. Something about Libby’s expression told Mia something was up. “Uh, Trunks, do you mind giving us a minute?” Trunks nodded, bowing out of the room.

Mia moved to grab her best friend’s hand, and Libby pulled away slightly. Mia frowned again. “Libby, what’s wrong?”

“I … I just…” Libby stuttered. Mia frowned further. Libby was usually so sure of herself.  Finally she shook her head and mumbled out, “I just want to make sure you’re doing this for the right reasons. That’s why I couldn’t.”

“Libby, what are you talking about?” Mia asked.

“I didn’t call off the wedding because Penn cheated on me,” Libby corrected shakily. “I called it off because we were getting married for all the wrong reasons. Mine was because I was in love with someone I didn’t think could have, and I thought settling was better than chasing a fantasy I couldn’t achieve. His cheating just reminded me that us settling for each other wasn’t just unfair to me, but to both of us.”

“Libby…” Mia breathed.

 Libby held up a silencing hand as she finished, “So, before you go down the aisle, I just want to make sure you’re one hundred percent in love with him.” She paused before she added jokingly, “Because if not, I will go write a note and we can go back to North City.”

Mia chuckled at her friend’s jibe, but nodded. “Yes, I am. One hundred percent.”

“Ok,” Libby sighed with a resolute nod, and a forced smile. But something in her eyes looked hurt as she grabbed her rose and made her way to the door. “Ok.”

“Libby, are you sure you’re alright?” Mia asked.

“Yup,” Libby chirped, her eyes a little teary. “I’m just so happy for you.” A tear rolled down her cheek, which she wiped away quickly, muttering, “Damn hormones.” Before Mia could question her further, Libby strolled out the door, ordering Trunks to “Strike up the band.”

Trunks and Mia both paused, watching Libby walk out to the ceremony, her head held high as she began her march down to the front. “Everything ok?” Trunks asked, eyeing his sister a little nervously.

Mia nodded, looping her arm with his. “I’m sure everything will be fine,” she answered, pondering exactly what Libby had been talking about being in love with someone else. Her whole relationship with Penn seemed perfect until the wedding weekend. Her heart sank as she realized maybe she didn’t know her best friend as well as she should.

Mia and her brother walked out to the aisle, just a white runner flecked with red rose petals leading to an archway adorned with red and white roses. Just under the arch stood the Ox Kingdom’s officiant, and Gohan. He looked nervously at his shiny black shoes that went perfectly with his black suit and red tie. He looked up for a split second, only for his gaze to settle on Mia’s, a grin finding a way to his face as he looked at her. Mia beamed back at him, all of her nervousness about the wedding fading away in an instant.

*~*~*

Gohan landed deftly, Mia in his arms in a bridal hold, in front of the front door of the Jicama’s farmhouse. _Our farmhouse,_ he mentally corrected. They were married now. His heart leapt at the thought. Siyaka had decided to move into Gohan’s old apartment, so they could have their space. So, it was truly theirs now. Carefully, he opened the door and stepped through, carefully guiding Mia through the doorway as she smiled up at him. “Welcome home, Son Mia,” he said, unable to hold back his grin as he said her new name.

“Just shut up and kiss me,” Mia said, grinning as well as she pulled his mouth to hers eagerly. She tried to deepen the kiss fervently, but Gohan pulled away and licked his lips coyly.

He set her down carefully as he said, “You don’t want to savor this moment? We did just get married.”

She fingered the lapel of his tux gingerly as she said in a measured tone, “Yes … but I also want what was promised to me.” Her grip tightened on his lapel as she pulled him toward her, but again he resisted, spinning her around pulling her hands down to their sides.

“I find it hard to believe you want to just get it over with,” he said with slight frown.

“I think you’re just stalling,” Mia replied pointedly, closing the distance between them. “I think your afraid that if you kissed me for longer than two seconds, you won’t be able to hold yourself back anymore.” She finished leaving less than an inch between their mouths. Their breath mingled as Gohan’s senses were filled with her honeysuckle scent. But after these past two weeks, the longest span of time they went without sex since their arrangement began, he could almost feel her craving him.

Gohan raised an eyebrow at her. “It’s only been two weeks.”

“So? That’s two weeks to catch up.” Mia attacked his mouth with an unprecedented fervency. He opened his mouth with a small smile as he let her tongue play with his. She maneuvered themselves back to her room, kicking off her shoes and pushing off his jacket as they moved.

_You know, I was planning on some setup, you know. Candles. Music?_

_Fuck it. I haven’t had you in ages._

_It’s been two weeks._

_It’s been too long._ Her mind sounded just as exasperated as her kissing. Her fingers quickly worked at the buttons of his shirt, almost ripping them out of their holes.

_Ok, calm down. It’s a rental._

Mia rolled her eyes as whipped the belt through its loops, and pushed his pants down, freeing his tail. The furry appendage unfurled itself, and she grasped it, petting it gently, sending shivers up his spine. He finally pulled away, breathing heavily from their lengthened kiss. She eyed him confused, still petting his tail absently. “Turn around,” he instructed. She let out a calming breath and turned. He gently pushed her hair onto her shoulder, exposing her back, and deftly unbuttoned the back of her dress. He pushed away the lacey dress from her, caressing her back as he did. She stepped out of her dress, leaving herself only in panties. She moved to cover her protruding belly subconsciously.

Gohan gave a weird look at the action. Her still being self-conscious about her pregnant belly didn’t make any sense to him. If anything, it made her more attractive in a way Gohan didn’t expect. He pulled her to him, enveloping her into another kiss. His tail found her, coiling around hers tightly as she melted into him. Her grip around his neck tightened as he lifted her legs to his waist, gently laying her on the bed.

He pulled away from Mia, and she let out whine. “Just hold on,” he breathed, as he reached for a sturdy pillow. She eyed him weirdly as he handed the pillow to her and said, “You need to put this under your back.” She frowned at him confused by the gesture. “It provides support and makes sure that the uterus doesn’t cut off blood flow to your heart.”

Mia blinked at him before saying sarcastically, “Wow. So sexy.”

Gohan frowned at her and Mia pushed herself onto her elbows to look at him incredulously. He set the pillow down with a huff and said, “I told you I wanted to research it first. This is what the research said.”

“To take all the sex appeal out of having sex?”

“No,” Gohan grumbled annoyedly. “Just that sex is only healthy and safe in certain positions once you’re this far along.” They let the silence hang between them for a minute. “Candles would have been nice, since we already had a lot to set up pretty much.”

Mia held up a silencing hand, not wanting to hear it. She let out a resigned sigh and small sniffle as she said, “So this is it. This is when it becomes moo-moos and missionary position until we die, isn’t it?”

Gohan let out a bark of a laugh. “What? No.” He pulled her up to him, brushing away a bang that fell into her eyes. He could see her tears forming at the prospect of their lost youth, and he smiled to himself again, pulling her into another kiss. She could feel his want for her, not as strong as she wanted him, but it was still there and strong enough. _Just give me a minute._ He pulled her off the bed as she consented. He grabbed two pillows, lining them in the middle of the bed. He then directed her to lie down sideways facing the pillows, her bump supported by the extra padding. He moved her top leg up to open her.

She found the position oddly comfortable, barely registering him climbing on top of her, careful not to put any pressure on her bump. She felt him open her lips, and moaned a small, “Oooh,” as he slid into her. One of her fists clenched the pillow, wondering how this position made him feel so much bigger. A part of him felt proud as the thought echoed through them. He slowly pulled out and pushed back in, both cautiously and sensually. His hand found hers clenched around the pillow, and his fingers entwined with hers as he continued to pump into her. Her tail wrapped around his thigh and rubbed against his motions, needing the friction between them. His tail found its way to her clit, and she gasped as the jolt of ecstasy ran through her. His mouth nibbled on her neck and shoulder as he pushed into her. He felt her orgasm building quickly, faster than usual. His tail rubbed against her bud harder as she began to buck against him. He slowed his pumping, not near his own climax as his tail helped her get off. Every part of her clamped down on him and shook as her orgasm rippled through her, forcing air out of her lungs as she screamed his name. Both the ecstasy of her orgasm and her scream coursed through Gohan, making him harder as he picked his pace back up. It didn’t take her body long to recover, and she was back to bucking against him mumbling “Fuck,” and “please,” into her pillow as her fingers clawed against it. His tail started flicking against her bean again, and it sent her careening into another orgasm, but this time he was going with her. He bit down on her mating mark, and their ecstasy exploded into each other, riding each other out until Gohan was spent. But for some reason Mia wasn’t. Even as he pulled out of her, she continued to buck and moan as orgasm after orgasm rippled through her, crashing against her like a white-water river. Gohan watched on in bemused wonder as the last and largest climax ripped through her, tearing out with another unintelligible scream.

Her hands still clenched with the pillow as she panted against the exertion. “What … the hell … was that?” she asked between breaths. He moved to touch her, caress her thigh, and she cried out a pained, “Nononono no…”

He laughed a little to himself, realizing her entire body must be spent after that experience. “That was a perk to having sex while pregnant,” he answered, “according to the books.”

“Oh … ok,” she replied, a mix between happily and blankly. “I think … I think I’m just going to go to sleep now.”

Gohan nodded, moving to turn off the light. He returned to bed, curling up on the other side as she remained in the same position. He looked over her naked form, smiling as he asked, “Still think it’s just moo-moos and missionary from here on?”

“No,” she replied.

He fingered the edge of one of the pillows and asked, “You want to do that again in the morning?”

Mia answered with a grin.

*~*~*

18 watched her twin pace along Gero’s laboratory floor, peeved about something. She’d noticed their recent raids didn’t excite him as much as they used to. They just got back from another one this morning. 17 didn’t get to kill enough people for his liking. She moved to pick her nails, knowing her brother wouldn’t tell her what was bothering him. He wasn’t really the confiding type. 17 noticed her absently picking at her nails, and commented, “You don’t have anything to say about what just happened?”

She stared past her brother at a metal wall with a frown. “Gohan escaped again,” she answered with a shrug. “Didn’t realize there was much else of note.” As much as they liked the saiyans to think they knew nothing about them, Dr. Gero had programmed their hard drives full of dossiers of every Z fighter, including Goku’s son, Gohan, and Vegeta’s two children, Trunks and Mia, as well as his ex, Siyaka. They knew everything about them. Age. Skills. Special abilities. Even descriptions that updated once a year with the nanobots’ updates. They had come in a few weeks prior, but 17 and 18 hadn’t updated that information yet. It was mostly more of the same the past few years. Gohan constantly trains. Trunks studies. Mia tends her cows. And they didn’t know what Siyaka was up to anymore, since they blew her precinct to kingdom come. Sadly, all were still alive.

“There has to be something we’re missing,” 17 huffed, his arms crossed. They let the silence hang for a minute, then he shifted a suspicious glance to 18.

She caught his gaze and frowned, “What?”

“Have you noticed something different about them recently?”

18 raised an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean ‘different’?”

“I mean Gohan is fighting solo again,” 17 stated, shifting his gaze to the back wall. “Why would he do that when he can fight with two other saiyans just as strong as he is?”

18 shrugged. “Maybe they had a falling out.”

“No,” 17 replied, rubbing his chin in thought. “Even if they had a falling out, they would still fight together until we were eliminated. It’s the only way they can attempt to beat us. They know that.”

18 quirked her head to the side. “So what do you think it is?”

“I think the only reason to keep Mia from fighting with him, as she’s done for half a year, up until a couple months ago …” He paused, still thinking it through. “She had to have become a liability.”

18 frowned, her back going rigid as her mind ran through every scenario that could possibly fit, and her brother was right. Mia had to become a weakness for the hybrid. It was the only explanation. “What kind of liability?” Injury seemed the most likely. But any injury would have healed by now. Illness? Or was it something boring as love? But knowing what kind of liability was important. Injury meant she could still fire ki blasts, and still fight with limited movement. Love meant she could still fight completely, she’d just be a distraction for the hybrid in a battle. Illness meant that she couldn’t fight at all.

17 sucked on his teeth before answering, “We’ll need to update our hard drives with the nanobots’ new information. It’s the only way we can know for sure.”

18 grimaced. “I thought you would say that.”

He looked at her annoyedly, not appreciating her whiny tone. “Well, if we want to exploit his weak spot, we have to know what it is, exactly.” He moved across the lab, grabbing the hookups to update their data.

18 rolled her eyes, walking over to her brother as she stated, “I just hate the idea of shutting down for a couple weeks while the data downloads.”

17 gave her an odd smirk as she got herself into position. “You think you’re the only one who hates this?”

She refused to look at her twin as she huffed at him, “Just do it.”

17 nodded, plugging her up to the computer and tapping a few buttons until the computer screen flashed, “Shutting Down Device. Initiating Installation on Device: Android 18. 0%” After almost a minute it ticked to “0.01%.” 17 got himself into position as he started plugging himself up, hitting the same buttons. Thirteen years of doing this for both of them has made him well practiced. He felt his eyelids get heavy as the computer forced his body into shutdown. Their bodies would automatically reboot once the installation was done.

 

When he woke, he heard an alarm going off, and his sister yelling incoherently. He quickly unplugged himself, as he took in some of the scene. 18 had beaten one of the hibernation chambers, or coffins as 17 and 18 used to call them, to near rubble. And a couple of Gero’s filing cabinets off to the side were up in flames. 17 stoically grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out the flames. He listened to her scream, “IT’S NOT FAIR!!!!” every time she hit the hibernation chamber over and over again. He deduced she had a little more time reviewing the data than he did, and there was something upsetting in the update.

He moved to grab his sister, but she pulled back, yelling, “Don’t touch me!”

“That bad, huh?”

The way he said it, though, wasn’t like an animatronic mimicking speech, like an android would speak. It was the way he said it when they were kids in foster care getting bad news. For a moment he wasn’t Android 17, but Lapis again.

18 sank at his words. She couldn’t be mad at him. It wasn’t his fault they were monsters. It was the Doctor who kidnapped them, killed them, and rebuilt them to be the monsters they were now. Except they weren’t entirely. He could get rid of what made them physically human, but he couldn’t get rid of their basic human needs. Love. Acceptance. Dreams of one day having a life worth living they could never achieve now. How people could take for granted having those needs fulfilled enraged them. They weren’t human anymore, not fully.

“Just look,” 18 sighed.

17 closed his eyes as he reviewed the new data. The first half of the year was as expected, but right after Gohan met Mia, a relationship started. As the images and recordings of their training and other recreational activities, 17 understood why 18 was so upset. Especially once they announced Mia was pregnant sometime in March. As an alien hybrid, Gohan was supposed to a monster like them. Maybe he was entirely biological, but a future full of love and family was supposed to be just as unattainable for him as it was for them. Even fighting against them, he was supposed to be just as miserable as they were. But the fates had something different planned. Something to show they truly were alone in the world.

17 pushed down the same feeling of rage he shared with his sister, and felt the familiar void of numbing emptiness it brought. “This is good,” he stated. 18 eyed him warily as he added, “This can destroy him.” He stood, walking to the back of the lab as he said, “She’s weak, but carrying his whole future. Kill her, he’ll self-destruct. No more golden boy. I don’t know about you, but that sounds a bit more fun than just ruining another city.” He stopped, crossing his arms and eyeing the other hibernation chambers. Several of them housed other androids they hadn’t touched yet. They were a dynamic duo that didn’t really need a third wheel, except, “We need to separate him from her before we attack, though. And I think I know how.”

*~*~*

“You know I hate surprises,” Mia grumbled as Gohan walked her through their house, his hands over her eyes as he guided her through.

“You’ll like this one. Trust me,” Gohan replied, grinning excitedly. Mia pursed her lips skeptically, but let her husband walk her through the house she lived in for the past seven years. She could hear their feet echoing down the hallway on the hardwood floors.

“Is this why you wanted me out of the house?” she asked, a little accusingly. Bulma had come by with Siyaka telling her they were having a girls’ day. Bulma paid for all of them to get mani-pedis, which Mia had needed in the worst way. She was just starting her last month of pregnancy, and boy was she excited to be almost done. Who knew the toll carrying a baby 24/7 did on your feet. Not to mention back pain. She’d been driving Gohan crazy snuggling into her body pillow instead of him. “You’re just too buff,” she’d tell him, “I can barely get any bump support with you.” Bulma got her one, saying it did wonders when she was pregnant with Trunks. That was the best she could get to alleviate the pain, and it wasn’t much. Gohan couldn’t get a good angle to rub her back any good either, since she couldn’t lay on her stomach. The massage chair did wonders today.

He guided her back to one of the bedrooms, barely being able to hold back a grin. He lifted his hands from her eyes, and she took that as a queue to open them. Her eyes went wide as she took in the room he led her to. It was painted a pale green with white trim. “Bracken” painted in script in on one wall above a crib, which had been built and setup with pristine sheets and little stuffed animals. Hanging above the crib was a mobile of stars and a crescent moon. A rocking chair with a blanket was set underneath the window, as well as a dresser/changing station, complete with diaper genie. Mia’s hand found her mouth as she looked around the room. This morning, it was white and bare, and she and Gohan had only just talked about what it should look like.

“Siyaka and Mom have been helping me get a few things the past couple weeks, and Trunks came over this morning to help with the painting,” Gohan stated, somewhat sheepishly.

Mia looked around at the room speechless as she took a few steps in, and the weight of everything sunk in deeper. Her fingers found the rim of the crib, brushing gently along it as a tear came to her eye.

“Do you like it?”

Mia sniffled, and gave an emphatic nod. Her tears started falling down her cheeks, and she quickly tried to wipe them away.

“Mia,” Gohan gasped, reaching out for her.

“I’m ok,” she said quickly wiping her eyes quickly. “I just wasn’t expecting this.”

Gohan gave her a comical frown as he stated, “Well, it needed to happen at some point. You’ve only got three or four weeks left.”

She waved him off, saying, “I know. I know. I just … I didn’t realize how real this made it.” He smiled as she huffed, muttering, “Damn hormones.” He pulled her over gently into a kiss, and she pulled him tighter to her, more aggressively kissing him. She was letting her hormones rule her right now, and one of her strongest hormones thanks to the pregnancy was her libido.

He pulled away with a smirk as he said, “We can’t do that in here.” She silenced him again with a breathless kiss, but guided him out of the nursery and already working to get his shirt off as she dragged him down the hallway.

 

Gohan pulled away from her, breathless again. “We can’t keep doing this,” he sighed as he slumped down on his pillow, his body tired.

Mia could only purr against her pillow as her body hummed with the after effects of their romp.

“I’m serious,” Gohan said around gasping breaths. “We keep this up, Bracken might come early.”

“You know,” Mia started, a small smirk coming to her face as she continued, “if that means I get back to fighting sooner, I’m all for it.” She was just about as out of breath as he was. “And if …” she stopped short, giving a small pained groan as she clutched her pillow tightly. She let out a long calming breath.

He picked his head up nervously, looking at her carefully. “You ok?” he asked, a little nervously.

“Yup,” she answered, her tone clipped by pain. “Just Braxton Hicks.”

“You’re sure?”

She let out another relieving breath, saying a small, “Yeah.”

“That’s it,” Gohan stated, eyeing her carefully. “That’s the last time we’re doing that until Bracken is out.” Mia pouted. “I mean it,” he added. “I’m not risking triggering labor before the baby’s ready to get out.”

“But, if I go into labor, that means the baby’s ready to come, doesn’t it,” Mia countered.

“No, it doesn’t,” Gohan answered.

Mia was about to argue with him, but the phone rang, interrupting them. Mia frowned, shooting Gohan a look. He sighed, getting up nimbly and walking briskly to the phone. She heard him pick up and answer as she heaved herself up, supporting her large belly. She saw a foot roll over her belly, and she smiled. Bracken was always active in the afternoon and night. She hoped that wasn’t a sign for when the baby was out.

“Oh!” Gohan gasped into the receiver. “Yeah, we’ll be right there.” He hung up quickly and almost ran back to the room, grabbing his clothes. Mia gave him a weird look until he said, “Uh, that was Sharpner. Libby’s in labor.” Mia’s eyes flew wide before she started bustling around the room, throwing on some maternity clothes as fast as possible.

Within a minute, they were locking the front door and taking off to Orange Star Hospital. It took them a few minutes to get there, and Gohan let Mia down carefully on the walk into the labor and delivery unit, but Mia ran in as soon as her feet touched the ground. Before Gohan could catch up, she was at the front desk, asking for Libby’s room. “Mia!” a man called out, grabbing their attention. He looked like Sharpner, light brown, skeptical eyes and slicked back, short blond hair.  Gohan recognized him as Libby’s father, Mr. Ploom. He was an ex-cop with the Orange Star Police Department who had been discharged after a head injury sometime when Libby and Sharpner were young. Sharpner sat with his father, looking at the ground nervously. Mia walked over to them, and Gohan followed her.

“How is she?” Mia asked.

“Good, from what we hear,” Mr. Ploom replied. “She was crowning when we got here though.”

Mia’s gaze fell to Sharpner who refused to look anywhere other than the lobby rug. “What happened to Sharpner?”

“Oh,” Mr. Ploom said, a small smirk coming to his face as he continued, holding back a laugh, “He got an eyeful when Libby was getting out of the car.”

Mia pursed her lips, holding back a grin at the thought. Mrs. Ploom walked out from two large doors, grinning as she said, “The baby is out and healthy. Libby is doing fine. They’re ready to see you, if you want.”

Mr. Ploom eagerly followed his wife, only to notice Sharpner wasn’t moving. “Well, are you coming?”

Sharpner looked at his father wide-eyed, but he was clearly too in shock from the what he saw earlier to say or do anything. Gohan frowned, eyeing the blonde cad oddly. “Why don’t you all go ahead. I’ll stay back with Sharpner,” Gohan offered. Mia and Mr. and Mrs. Ploom walked through the heavy swing doors back to Libby’s delivery room. Gohan crossed his arms as he took in the seemingly broken man that once took pleasure in lying about Mia’s sex life. “Was it that horrible?” It was an honest question.

“It was like … I don’t even think I can describe it,” Sharpner answered around gagging. “It was like the movie Alien, but real.”

Gohan frowned. “I haven’t seen that movie,” the hybrid confessed, looking off

Sharpner’s wide light brown eyes found Gohan’s black ones. “But you know the scene where the alien pops out of the stomach, right?”

Gohan shook his head nervously.

Sharpner looked at the hybrid incredulously before asking, “How do you not know that scene!?”

Gohan’s gaze narrowed before he answered, “I wasn’t given much time to watch movies as a kid.”

Sharpner let out a scoff, stating, “Well, I guess you’ll just have to be surprised.”

The hybrid frowned at the response, but decided not to engage him further. They waited in silence until someone came out, the sound of the hospital waiting room was the only thing keeping them from pure deafening silence. Mia came out first after thirty minutes, her expression a clear mix of emotions. Gohan stood, walking over to greet her. “You ok?” he asked, grabbing her hands carefully.

Mia nodded. She looked back at Sharpner and commented, “You should go see your niece. She’s beautiful.” Sharpner looked away sheepishly from her suggestion. Mia frowned, then turned to her husband, grabbing his hand tightly. “We should go.”

Gohan followed his wife out the front doors, heading to a clear area where they could take-off. Gohan noticed Mia looked troubled as they took off, and he asked, “Everything ok.”

Mia pursed her lips, her eyes wide before she answered, “I don’t think I can do this.”

Gohan eyed her carefully. “What do you mean?

“Labor,” Mia answered. He frowned as she hauntingly added, “The sounds some of the women down that hallway were making.”

He squeezed her arms gently with a pitying look as he said, “Well, it’s a little bit late to be nervous about it now.”

Mia kept shaking her head as she said, “And poor Libby. She didn’t get there in time for the epidural. I… I can’t imagine.” Gohan frowned at her as Mia just shook nervously.

“Calm down. I’m sure when the time comes, you’ll be able to handle it,” Gohan said reassuringly. “Just like a Saiyan.”

Mia let out another calming breath before muttering, “The Zenkai boost will be nice.”

*~*~*

Five days had past, and Gohan and Mia were sitting down to a nice breakfast, this time solely prepared by Gohan. They’d picked Bracken’s favorites, or at least what they thought were the baby’s favorites. Everytime Mia ate that meal, Bracken made sure to give a review in kick form. The more kicks, the better the meal. Buttered toast; cheesy eggs with some onions, ham and peppers; grapes; and soothing tea. Mia sat and ate with one swollen foot propped up on Gohan’s lap. He didn’t mind as he chowed down on his own meal. They listened to the radio, not speaking much as they ate.

She let out a sigh, relaxing back as she swallowed her last bite, enjoying the feeling of being full, but knew in thirty minutes, she’d be ravenous again. That never seemed to fail now. For some reason, Bracken just couldn’t get enough food now, and if she didn’t watch herself, she’d start munching on some snack for most of the day just trying to sate the baby.

Gohan had finished a few minutes before, and turned to her as she leaned back. “You finished?”

Mia wiped some crumps away from the corner of her lips uncaringly as she answered, “For now.”

He nodded, grabbing the dishes and taking them to the sink, rinsing them for the dishwasher. Mia ran her fingers through her hair as she let out a tired sigh. She didn’t get much sleep the night before. The Braxton Hicks were never ending. As soon as she would doze off, another wave would hit her. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, only to have another false contraction hit, and she let out a small groan at the sudden pain, until it ebbed thirty seconds later. Gohan eyed her carefully, putting the plate in his hands back in the sink. “Are you ok?” he asked, nervously. Really, he was asking if he needed to grab the delivery bag and head towards the hospital, but they were at least a week away from that.

Mia let out a hissing, “Yeah,” before doing a calming breathing set. _In-2-3-4-5-6-7-8. Out-2-3-4-5-6-7-8._ She gave a nod as she finished the set, and the pain disappeared. “I think I need to nap for a bit.”

Just as she said that the radio buzzed, _“Ginger Town, a town 150 miles north of West City, is under an android attack! If you’re in the cities limits, it’s best to locate the nearest Capsule Corp Bunker, and wait for the National Guard. If you’re outside the city, but still in the imminent threat zone, please evacuate to West City, Basilford, Hazlenut Village, Oregano Town, or Wasabiville. Again, Ginger Town is under android attack. Please evacuate to the nearest Capsule Corp Bunker or listed town. This is your only alert.”_

Mia looked at the radio, her expression sullen as her heart sank. She licked her lips nervously, before looking at Gohan. But no words came to her mind. The androids hadn’t attacked in over a month, and she was kind of hopeful that they had self-destructed or something. But no.

Gohan eyed her with the same sad expression she gave him before turning off the water and going to their room to change into his fighting gi. It didn’t take him long to change. When the andriods attacked, he didn’t have time to spare. He walked out of their room, and stopped by her on the way to the door, pulling her into a chaste kiss. _I love you._

_I love you, more._

He pulled away and headed out.

“You come back in one piece,” Mia ordered as he swung the door open, her hand clutching her swollen belly. He gave his trademark Son family grin as he gave her a small wave and stepped outside, before shooting off into the skies.

He flew off as fast as he could, whipping by farmland and cityscapes until the smoky horizon of burning Ginger Town. He scowled at the decimation and damage. People screamed as more buildings exploded. Gohan clenched his fists as he took in the sight. A sight his child would grow up seeing as normal. The thought churned in his mind. _Unless this ends now._ He powered up to Super Saiyan and plunged into the burning city, ready to end things.

As he lowered into the city center, he found a lone figure shooting at the city, a figure he didn’t recognize. He wore a cap, brown gloves, light brown vest, dark green pants held up by silver suspenders, and dark gray boots. The man was tall and pale, and his silver hair caught the wind lightly. He turned his head slightly, showing his angular facial structure and silvery blue eyes, and smirked. “Well, that didn’t take long.”

“You aren’t one of the androids,” the hybrid growled, gritting his teeth. Gohan clenched his fists nervously. “Who are you!?”

“’Not one of the androids,’ you say?” the man chuckled, a thick country trawl in his voice. He slowly turned as he added, “Well, I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

Gohan’s eyes flew wide as he saw the Red Ribbon logo emblazoned on the front of the man’s cap and on his vest. “What?” he barely breathed. “How!?”

“Oh, come now. With names like 17 and 18, you couldn’t really have thought they were the only two?” The android laughed. He gestured to himself as he added, “I’m designated as Android 13, your unlucky number.” He tipped his trucker’s cap as he added, “Much obliged.”

Gohan grit his teeth and clenched his fists. “Where are 17 and 18?” He didn’t have time for games.

13 smirked. “Wherever they can do the most damage.”

Gohan scowled. “If you’re not going to tell me, I’ll just beat it out of you!”

13 laughed again. “I’d like to see you try.”

Gohan’s power surged around him as he launched himself at the android, fists flying. 13 blocked well until Gohan started throwing some kicks in, throwing off his rhythm a bit. 13 grabbed his ankle on the second roundhouse kick, throwing him down. Gohan caught himself, using the flip-turn maneuver Mia had shown him. 13 zoomed after him, and Gohan narrowly dodge a punch to the back of his head, turning and trying to knee 13 in his temple. The android ducked, throwing a punch to Gohan’s abdomen, which the hybrid knocked away, using the leverage of the blow to spin kick. 13 was too fast, ducking again and kicking Gohan in his stomach, sending the hybrid flying.

Gohan recovered, shooting a small blast toward his adversary which hit with a loud explosion. When the dust cleared, 13 stood strong and smirking with only a slight scuffing on his boots. _Damn,_ Gohan thought, trying to figure out what to do. Those may not have been his most powerful moves, but they should have done some damage.

“My turn,” 13 said with a sneer, lifting his own gloved hand and shooting a more powerful blast back.

Gohan reacted quickly as the energy ball flew towards him, focusing his ki into his arm and striking it away. The blast soared off, exploding in a brilliant light behind him. Gohan did his best to remain composed, but his arm was numb from the power of that blast and shook, feeling weak now.

13 seemed to sense it and smiled. “Boy, you won’t win against me.” He put two hands up as if holding a ball before creating a red blast with a solid red core, remind Gohan a little of Mia’s Chaos Bomb.

“Shit,” Gohan cursed, readying to move. If it was like Mia’s blast, it would be almost impossible to dodge, but detrimental if it hit. 13 fired, and as expected it chased Gohan as he made every dodge and dive to escaped the blast. As the blast got closer, almost a few feet away, it detonated. The blast sent Gohan flying, and he only just barely was able to brace himself from being completely thrown. He looked back towards the Android, and in his place was someone he never thought he’d be so happy to see.

Siyaka hovered in the smoky air, her super Saiyan aura billowing out around her as she crossed her arms. “It looked like you needed help,” she stated as Gohan flew towards her.

“Thanks,” he breathed, massaging his wrist from earlier.

Siyaka looked at him sideways, noting his arm before saying, “Give me,” gesturing to his hurt hand. He complied, and she used some ki infusion to heal it slightly. Once she finished, he tested his hand, thankful the Jicama women had learned such a technique.

13 rose up from the city’s ashes sneering at Gohan and his mother-in-law. “So Siyaka has joined the fray,” he scoffed. “I didn’t think you were one with much of a death wish, but if you’re looking for annihilation, I’m you’re huckleberry.”

“Just tell us where 17 and 18 are. Then we’ll dispatch you as painlessly as possible,” Siyaka called back.

“As I told the boy, they’re where they can do the most damage,” 13 stated, sucking on his teeth.

Siyaka launched on him, growling, “That’s not an answer!” The way Siyaka went after 13 was brutal, and Gohan vowed to never piss her off if that was what she was capable of. She moved to punch 13, hiding a blast in the center of her palm, which she detonated as soon as he moved to catch her fist. Blinded by her attack, she did a spin kick, sending him towards the ground. He tried to slow his fall only to have her collide into his back, falling with him into the ground, recovering with a small flip away before landing. Using the smoke as cover, she watched 13 pick himself up, rattled by her onslaught, only to attack again using her favorite disarming move from her mixed martial arts training, knocking him down by his legs and pulling his arm into a wrist lock. “Where are they!?”

13 grunted, trying to push himself back up, but she kicked his arm out from under him, tightening her grip on his other wrist. “What town?”

“Who said anything about a town?” he growled out.

Siyaka scowled, using the leverage she had on his wrist to rip his arm off. He let out a scream as she crushed the arm in her hand, casting the wasted metal aside. He tried to move out from under her, but she kept him pinned. She always had fairly good control from this angle.

Gohan landed near them, eyeing his mother-in-law’s work with awe as she charged another hand with ki, severing 13’s head from his body. “Remind me never to piss you off,” he muttered, watching Siyaka grab the android’s head by his silver hair as his body twitched and crackled with wasted electricity.

She brushed off the comment, stating, “Maybe if you were as ruthless as I am, rather than testing your enemies’ limits, the androids would be dead.”

“Maybe,” Gohan said with a frown. “But he was much weaker than either 17 or 18.”

“Hey!” the android snapped.

“13, was he?” Siyaka asked, and Gohan nodded. “Gero was probably still working out the kinks on this one. Still, next fight, don’t dawdle with your finishing moves. Always go in for the kill.” The android growled, and Siyaka smiled at him. “Now, where are 17 and 18.” The high of besting one android was getting to her. It felt like she could take on any of them and win.

13 smirked. “It’s too late now. They’re already there.”

“Where?” Gohan growled, more dangerously now.

The android looked to him and smiled. “Wherever you’ll hurt the most.”

The hybrid frowned, still confused by the android’s riddle until he felt a surge of power south east of them, towards home, which disappeared as quick as it came. Gohan’s heart plummeted. _Mia,_ he realized. He jumped up into the skies, flying back home as fast as he could, pleading he was wrong. That Mia and the baby were safe. He could feel Siyaka tailing him a mile or two behind. If they were going there, Mia couldn’t defend herself. The pregnancy sapped up all her ki. And they were still two hours away.

As he came towards their farm, he saw Mia running into the field from the barn, waving him down. He powered down, happy to see her ok until he heard her yelling, “Get out of here!!!” He landed, running up to meet her, but after his first two steps, a loud bang sounded. Mia froze, her onyx eyes wide and towards the sky as a small but powerful blast barreled through her chest leaving a gaping hole, continuing on to connect to his dominant arm’s shoulder and blasting. Mia fell to the ground, her eyes glazed over as she struggled to breath, her lungs filling with blood and fluid. He heard her breath leave her and saw her head lull to the side lifelessly.

“MIIIIIIAAAAAA!!!!!!!”

 

 


	4. Part 4

AN: These are much shorter than the previous, but I hope they have as much impact. Thanks for reading!

Please enjoy this installment, and as always review, favorite, etc.

 

Disclaimer: All DBZ content is owned by Akira Toriyama, Funimation, and Toei Animation.

 

Part Four: _Dies Irea_

_Dies irea. Dies illa solvet saeclum in favilla. “Day of wrath. That day will dissolve the Earth in ashes.”_

 

Gohan ran to Mia, her body limp as he picked her up, not minding his own dead arm hanging off him. He held her close, crying as his mind tried to wrestle with the reality of the situation. His hand grazed her cheek, his mind trying to connect with hers only to find silence. “Nonononono,” he breathed, pressing her into his chest. _This isn’t real. This is just a bad dream,_ he tried to tell himself, closing his eyes and trying to wake up. He thought back to this morning, how happy they were eating toast and cheesy eggs. Gushing over their baby’s kicks in bed. _That’s where I am,_ he convinced himself.

He opened his eyes, and her empty gaze peered back at him. He felt his tears streaming down his face. He hadn’t cried since he was a boy, when his temper would get the best of him and someone would end up hurt.

“MIA!?!?!” He heard a cry above him. Her mother landed next to him, clutching at her daughter crying, “Mia … Mia … Oh, baby no.”

Gohan looked up as Siyaka pulled Mia’s body to herself. His gaze fell on the androids as they stepped out of the barn, smiling at their murder. The blonde cackled as she jumped into the skies, and 17 mimed blowing smoke off a gun before following after his demented cohort.

Gohan saw red. Nothing mattered anymore. Mia was dead. Their child was dead. Nothing could bring them back. Gohan stood, feeling his power radiating off him. His rage shook his body and the loss was more powerful than he could imagine. His gaze followed the android’s retreating figures. _This ends today. BY MY HANDS!!!_ He’d snapped, and his power surged as he shot into the air after them, Siyaka calling for him to stop. But he didn’t listen.

The androids had apparently been hoping he’d give chase as they sped up, their laughter echoing in his ears. They didn’t get far before he sent 17 crashing down into a wrecked building. Gohan recognized it as the Orange Star City Center, still in ruins from their attack a year ago. It was where Mia and himself were put in each other’s paths. And he knew this was where it ended.

18 laughed as she landed on a broken wall, bent rebar sticking out of it. “It’s going to take more than that,” she laughed.

17 blasted the building apart, walking out from underneath the raining rubble. His black shirt was ripped and hanging off him weirdly, causing 18 to laugh. “Nice kick. Funny,” the brunette android remarked with a sneer as he walked out. “I hope you enjoyed it, because that move is going to cost you your life.”

Gohan set his jaw, trying to focus through his pain. He wasn’t a child anymore and wasting all his energy on a single blow wouldn’t work. Siyaka was right. He would have to be ruthless to win. And nothing sounded better right now than to rip each one of the robots apart until there was nothing but scrap metal. And he wanted to enjoy it.

17 threw the first blast, and Gohan jumped up to dodge it. He flew himself up, drawing 17 away from the city and his cohort. One on one, he might have a shot. Gohan threw a chop at him with his good arm, which the android blocked. 17 kicked, which Gohan blocked with his knee. 17 tried to bring his arms down on Gohan’s head, but the hybrid phased out of the way, trying to throw a punch from behind. 17 spin-kicked the Saiyan away, sending him into a barely standing cement wall that collapsed under impact.

Gohan burst out from under the rubble, his Super Saiyan aura blazing around him before he shot a blast at an inbound 17. The android dodged it with ease, but Gohan was able to predict where he’d move, and was there to land a punch in the robot’s cheek. 17 responded swiftly with a knee to Gohan’s abdomen. Gohan spluttered a little before launching his new assault on the android. They traded blow for blow back and forth, Gohan doing his best to dodge and block while countering and parrying. If he’d had full control of his right arm, he’d be much more formidable with doubled the punches and parries. But as of right now, he could barely lift it without pain. Finally, Gohan took 17 by surprise by doing a flip kick Mia had taught him, sending the android flying into another building. He charged a blast to shoot after the android.

As Gohan landed, 18 was on him in her brother’s stead, giving him a swift punch before he could even register what was going on, sending him into the glass window of a now derelict jewelry store, his ki blast fading out. Gohan groaned as he landed on his ass, shattered glass falling around him. His head throbbed from the punch.

“Jeez,” 17 grumbled, coming up next to his sister. “That one actually hurt.”

“Well, Gero did note, ‘Volatile when angered,’” 18 remarked, resting her fist on her hip. 17 rolled his eyes at her quip. “Maybe we should do this together.” 17 ground his teeth before giving a small nod, and they launched into action together.

Gohan pulled himself to stand just barely, his head still ringing from 18’s hit. Suddenly, 18 swiped his feet out from under him while 17 caught his chest with his knee, adding a punch to his face while Gohan was prone. 17 continued to punch, weakening the hybrid while 18 readied a double-handed blast, yelling at her brother to move at the last second. The blast detonated, sending Gohan flying back through a few walls.

Gohan groaned, pulling himself to stand again, breathing heavily. His arm hung awkwardly and was completely numb at this point. He held his shoulder carefully, trying to think around the pain. He noticed blood dripping from his brow to his cheek. Surely his head had been gashed at some point, but he wasn’t sure when. As he looked up, he saw 17 and 18 land on either side of him, walking towards him menacingly. “You know this destruction is pointless. Someone will come around and put you in your place.”

17 smirked. “Like who?”

18 smiled with her brother as she added, “Those jerks thirteen years ago couldn’t.”

“Your wife couldn’t. Now your baby won’t.”

Gohan’s fist tightened, feeling his rage resurge. _How dare they joke about them!_

18 crossed her arms as she finished, “And neither will you.”

“That’s where you’re wrong! I will put you in your place once and for all!” Gohan growled, thinking hard on what had happened that morning. How they murdered his pregnant wife, clearly just to get to him. “Not one death will go unpunished!”

17 and 18 charged, and Gohan threw a blast down, blowing up dust as a distraction, allowing him to dodge them in the dust. He flew up, trying to separate them again. It didn’t work as planned as they flew up behind him. They caught up with him quickly, each firing double blasts on him. Gohan threw out a defensive block, dispelling the blasts as they collided against it. 18 flew up from behind, trying to land a punch, which Gohan caught with his good hand. 17 was on him just as fast, knocking him down from the skies to the ground.

Gohan recovered quickly, back flipping away from them as they landed, and shot a one-handed Kamehameha blast. The androids fired their own blast, meeting his Kamehameha wave with a mighty clash. The blasts struggled against each other for a minute before Gohan shoved more ki into the blast, feeling his rage swelling. His blast took over theirs with ease, knocking them back into another destroyed building. He jumped into the sky, charging another finishing blast, leaving himself open.

17 took advantage of his opening, shooting at the hybrid with his own cheap shot. Gohan acted quickly, knocking the blast to the side. Gohan realized only too late that the blast was a distraction as 17 jumped up, knocking the hybrid back to the ground. Gohan rebounded again, hopping up a few buildings to gain higher ground. 17 followed him quickly, gaining on him. Gohan shot a few blasts to push him back, not seeing 18 shoot up behind him. She threw a punch, which he just barely blocked, doing another flip kick, knocking her down, almost hitting her brother. 17 dodged his sister, still zooming up towards the hybrid. Gohan dropped down towards him, phasing to his ankles, grabbing one before flipping him around and slamming him into the rooftop of one of the buildings, cracking the cement. He jumped off the curved roof, allowing 17 to slip and fall to the ground.

Gohan landed where 18 and 17 stood, both looking ruffled, their hair sticking out in loops and fly-aways. Gohan smirked. They may not bleed, but they weren’t infallible. 18 ran her fingers through her hair as 17 wiped dust from his jaw. Gohan grit his teeth, his ki flaring up again as he glared down his wife’s murderers.

The sky darkened and rumbled, the first droplets of rain hitting the ground before a curtain of water fell from the heavens in heavy rain making things barely visible. The androids stalked forward, their glares matching Gohan’s, stopping only a few feet away from him. They shared a brief communicative glance before shifting into each other’s silhouette, jarring Gohan as they launched at him. 18 struck low, 17 high. Gohan barely dodged each blow, instead kicking high, landing his foot in 17’s abdomen. 18 landed a punch, then 17 and 18 worked together trading blows with Gohan, the hybrid barely able to counter against their simultaneous onslaught.  Both androids working different angles to try and break his defenses.

17 kicked low, tripping Gohan in the process. Gohan fumbled away, shooting into the air as 17 and 18 gave chase. He flew into a building for cover to lose them easier, but they flew in right behind him, shooting at the rafters so the building would collapse on top of him. 17 shouldered him through the wall, sending the hybrid flying into another collapsed building, sliding off it feebly. 17 and 18 hovered above the hybrid’s broken body, their hands pointed below as they leveled the block with ki blasts. Gohan screams raked through his body as he realized this was it. Every explosion hit him and detonated, destroying him piece by piece. The pain was excruciating until suddenly there was nothing. Just a white room and a comforting feeling.

“Gohan,” he heard a voice call. He turned, seeing the smiling face of his wife who ran to him, hugging him tightly to her.

He embraced her back, happy to see her. His mind was confused. Something told him he wasn’t supposed to be there, but he couldn’t remember why, and he also didn’t want to let go. Something told him in the back of his mind she was supposed to be gone, that some nightmare had taken her away. But she was real. He could feel her in his arms. So it must have only been that.

He felt a tear on his shoulder and he pulled away, his mind becoming clearer, as if waking from a dream. He looked in his wife’s eyes, and she was crying. “You weren’t supposed to go after them.”

He frowned. _Who?_ he asked himself, only remembering his fight with the androids, what caused it. But this wasn’t where he’d been. And this wasn’t home. Now he was confused again. “Where are we?”

“We’re dead,” Mia stated solemnly.

He gripped her hand tighter, chewing on the inside of his lip as he wrestled with this new reality. The stood at the end of the line of souls waiting to be judged by Yemma. _Death. This is what it’s like to die._ He wasn’t sure what he’d expected. He asked his father once after he’d finally returned from Namek what it was like to die. His father had told him what he at seven could understand, but the feeling was different. He didn’t feel the pain from his fight with the androids. He didn’t feel discomfort. Just peace. Like waking from a long nap.

He looked her over, noting, “You aren’t pregnant anymore.”

She gave a sad smile. “No.”

He nodded, feeling a lump in his throat as he chewed on his lip. “Do you know where Bracken’s spirit went?”

Mia smirked knowingly. “I guess you didn’t notice before rushing off to avenge me.” Gohan frowned at the comment. She reached up to his head, opening her mind to his.

* * *

 

**Earlier that morning:**

Gohan walked out of their room and stopped by her on the way to the door, pulling her into a chaste kiss. _I love you._

_I love you, more._

He pulled away and headed out.

“You come back in one piece,” Mia ordered as he swung the door open, her hand clutching her swollen belly. He gave his trademark Son family grin as he gave her a small wave and stepped outside, before shooting off into the skies.

Mia let out a long sigh, rubbing her large belly before hoisting herself up. The amount this child pushed on her bladder and caused her Braxton Hicks, she couldn’t get any sleep the night before. So she’d resolved to try and nap to catch up. Pregnancy and exhaustion did not go well together from Mia’s perspective. She laid herself down on the bed, getting as comfortable as her huge bump would allow her, and started to drift off.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been napping, five minutes or an hour, but she woke to a sharp cramping that felt like someone had a vice grip on her uterus. She felt a small pop and her body started leaking uncontrollably. “Oh … oh no,” she breathed, pulling herself up to stand, her legs feeling weak under her as the fluid gushed out of her like a waterfall. She braced herself against the soaked bed, trying her best not to slip as she made her way to the hallway to get the phone, breathing deeply to calm herself. The pain eased and she was able to get to the phone, only for another contraction to hit. She knew she was supposed to be timing these, as Gohan kept mentioning every time she had Braxton Hicks.

The androids certainly picked a fine time to take her husband’s attention.

As the contraction subsided, she took the phone off the cradle dialing Capsule Corp as she went back down the hallway to the bathroom. She’d remembered Gohan mentioning water birth as one of the safest home births, and with him at least two hours away, home birth it was. The phone rang and rang until the answering machine picked it up. She hung up, not really having time to leave a message like, “Hey, I’m in labor. Call me as soon as possible for birthing guidance. Hopefully you hear this before the baby gets here.”

She quickly dialed Libby’s number and started running herself a bath. She had another contraction as the phone rang and rang, and she gripped the side of the bathtub, her knuckles going white as she almost cracked the porcelain.

“Hello?” Sharpner answered, sounding smug as usual.

“PUT LIBBY ON THE PHONE!” Mia cried out, her hand over her bump as she could feel it spasming under her skin. She may have screamed it, but she wasn’t sure. All she knew was the androids could have kicked her ass to kingdom come and it still wouldn’t hurt this bad.

“Mia?” Libby asked over the line. “What’s wrong?”

“Baby’s coming. I need help,” Mia gasped out as the contraction finally ended. The end was always the worst, and then release.

“Is Gohan taking you to the hospital?”

“He’s not here,” Mia huffed, checking the bath water to make sure the temperature was suitable, not too hot. She took off her clothes as carefully as possible as she added, “I can’t get a hold of him. I’m getting in the bath.”

“I’m on my way,” Libby responded quickly.

“I just need guidance …” Mia trailed, getting in the bathtub before another contraction hit and she screamed, “Nope! I need you here! I need you here!”

Libby handed the phone to her mom, saying, “Keep her on the line. Mia, I’m coming!” She heard Libby say to Sharpner, “Either give me your keys, or get in the car!” The front door slammed shut, and Mia calmed as she gripped her belly.

“Are you timing your contractions?” Mrs. Ploom asked.

“No,” Mia huffed around her current one. “I can’t think enough to count.”

Mrs. Ploom laughed. “You use a watch.”

“Oh,” Mia sighed sheepishly. “Duh.”

“Don’t get out of the bath. I’ll time it here,” Mrs. Ploom offered. “They seem to be pretty close, would you say?”

Mia made an affirming grunt as the contraction ended and she felt relief. “Ok, it’s stopped.”

“Marking the time now,” Mrs. Ploom noted for her. “And you’re sure this is labor?”

Mia wasn’t offended by the question. The amount of Braxton Hicks contractions, and wondering herself if she was actually experiencing labor or not, the end of pregnancy sometimes felt like one long birth. “My water broke,” she answered, calming her breath.

“That’s a good indicator.”

“I thought so,” Mia joked. She let her head fall back against the cool porcelain wall. She felt her braid slowly soaking up some of the water, her tail floating lazily at the top. Mia took only a few calming breaths, enjoying the relief before another contraction hit and she called out, “Ah!”

“Marking it,” Mrs. Ploom noted again.

They continued like that timing each contraction until Mia heard the front door bust open. “Mia!?”

Mia couldn’t say anything except an incoherent cry. Libby came running back, seeing Mia clutching her belly and the phone next to the bath. She picked up the phone and said, “I’m here. What do I need to do?” Libby nodded, and Mia caught something along the lines of “measure the cervix with your fingers.” The contraction ended and Libby moved to do so, looking to Mia carefully asking, “You don’t mind, do you?” Mia lazily shook her head, breathing hard against the cold porcelain. Libby rolled up her sleeve, and dipped her hand into the water, reaching into Mia to check her. “I should’ve really taken you out before second base though …” Libby joked.

“Wha-?” Mia was barely able to get out.

“Nothing,” Libby said, pulling her hand out. She leaned into the phone saying, “Yeah, I didn’t feel anything. … No, I mean like the stuff wasn’t there, just a hole… Uh-huh… Uh-huh…” Libby turned to Mia and asked, “What’s seven times fifty?”

“Why? I can—FUUUUUCK!!!” Mia responded as another contraction hit, and she clutched her belly, chanting the f-word to herself.

Libby ran her through her breathing exercises. As the contraction subsided, Libby asked, “Ok, how are they feeling?” Mia shot her friend an exasperated look, breathing heavily. “I need to know if you’re ready to push.”

“It feels like I’m being stabbed in my pelvis,” Mia stated quickly.

Libby nodded, saying into the phone, “Yeah, I think she’s there.” She turned to Mia quickly, setting down the phone, offering a hand as she said, “Ok, when the next contraction hits, you’ve got to push. Ok?” Mia nodded weakly, grabbing Libby’s hand as she sat herself up a little. “Also, please don’t break my hand,” Libby added quickly.

Mia could only give her a small annoyed glare before the next contraction hit and she pushed.

* * *

 

Mia sat next to the crib, smiling at her son. He looked so much like his father. His hair stood up on end though, like Siyaka said Vegeta’s did, except for one lone bang which dripped over his forehead. He hadn’t opened his eyes yet, but she knew they would be ebony and expressive like Gohan’s. Although, it was clear he had Trunks’ brow. He was swaddled in a white blanket, which hid his fuzzy brown tail.

“You did a good job,” Libby whispered over her shoulder. It had taken Mia forty-five minutes to push Bracken out. Libby had helped clean Bracken, making sure he cried, telling Mia it’s what the doctors did with Rulla to check her breathing. She cut and tied the umbilical cord and helped Mia with the rest of the delivery. She helped Mia get dressed in yoga pants, a loose fitting tank top and sweater. She also brought extra witch hazel pads for her, showing her how to apply them. Libby had truly been a godsend.

“Only because you were here to help,” Mia stated softly, smiling at her friend.

Libby shrugged. “I do what I can.” She looked into the crib, looking at the baby and smiled, “Bracken fits him.” Mia nodded tiredly. Libby eyed her friend carefully before adding, “You should get some sleep. I can watch him until Gohan returns.” Again, Mia nodded agreeably, struggling to stand up from the chair. Libby moved to help her, but Mia put her hand up as she stood. She’d have to move around on her own at some point. And the zenkai was supposed to kick in soon.

There was some noise out front, like an explosion. The house shook, and the lights flickered. Mia frowned, turning off the nursery light. “What was that?” Libby asked, but Mia lifted a finger to her lips, telling her friend to stay silent.

As she walked towards her room, she saw Sharpner looking wide eyed, hiding behind a wall. He jerked his head towards the front window, peering over one of the cow fields where she heard some of her cattle crying and stampeding. She looked out carefully, seeing the androids taking pot shots at her cows. Quickly, she pulled Sharpner back into the back hallway into the nursery.

“What are they doing here?” Sharpner asked, huddling next to his sister. Libby looked on worried. “They” could only be two people. “I thought they were in Ginger Town!”

Mia’s lip trembled, wondering where Gohan was. He was supposed to be fighting them in Ginger Town, but they were here. She couldn’t let herself think about it. She stood, looking back toward the field. She could hear them now, taunting her to come out. They wanted her.

“What are you doing?” Libby asked barely above a whisper, clearly petrified knowing what was waiting for them. “Don’t go out there.”

“I need you two to stay in here. Stay quiet. Keep Bracken safe.”

“Mia, no!” Libby whispered.

But Mia wasn’t listening. She had to assume Gohan was dead, and the only person who could keep their son alive was her. She walked out of the room, and as Libby tried to chase after her, Sharpner grabbed his sister, holding her back. Mia did her best to look strong as she stepped out of the house. She could feel some of her ki returning, but it would be at least a day before she’d healed completely.

She hopped over the fence with a determined grace, and as she landed, she yelled, “HEY!” garnering the androids’ attention.

 “Miss Cattle-hand has arrived,” 17 crowed, turning to her, a smirk on his face. 18 looked equally smug.

“Get the hell off my property!” Mia snapped, her fists balled. She quickly tried to power up to Super Saiyan, but with her body weak from the labor, she could barely hold onto it. It required too much focus, which she didn’t have with her hormones all over the place. Post Partum really was a bitch.

18 acted faster than Mia could even register, phasing right next to the princess and striking her to the back of the head, knocking Mia out.

 

When Mia woke, her head was splitting in pain. She could barely open her eyes, and a part of her wanted to vomit. She could feel she was tied up, sitting on a chair and as she looked at the floor, she could see the concrete and straw. Her barn. She looked up, seeing the androids bickering as they did.

“I don’t like waiting. This is taking too long,” 18 groused.

“Maybe 13 was better than we thought,” 17 remarked with a frown.

“No. You measured him, and he was nothing without his extra parts.” 18 scowled in confusion adding, “What was with that anyway? Why put 13’s last functioning components in two other broken androids. That makes no sense.”

“Gero did a lot of things that didn’t make sense.”

“Good thing we killed him.”

Mia did her best to burn off the ropes with a controlled blast while the androids argued, hoping to escape out the side door. She could just barely sense energy, and she could tell Gohan was on his way. He’d be there in a matter of minutes in fact. The ropes fell away, hitting the concrete with a regrettable thud.

Both androids looked toward her, seeing her arms free. Mia quickly jumped up, trying to run out of the barn only for 17 to clothesline her, sending her back down. “Now, now,” 17 laughed, “We can’t have the bait running off before the big show.” He pulled her up, holding her arms behind her back to control her movements.

Mia frowned. _Bait?_ “For what?” she asked.

“Your husband,” 18 answered as if it were obvious.

Mia shook her head confused. “He went to go fight you in Ginger Town.”

17 gave his sister a sly look as he said, “I don’t think she’s understanding her role in this.”

“Clearly,” 18 smiled, walking around to her front. “See, Gohan is this pain in our ass, and we realized the best way to get rid of him is killing everything important in his life: You and the baby you’re carrying.”

Mia froze. _They were after Bracken._ They just didn’t know she’d delivered already. Mia tightened her lips, knowing the androids were going to kill her as soon as she ran. It didn’t matter when she died, just that she did. Preferably in front of Gohan. But she knew she could keep them safe. They wouldn’t look for Bracken in the house if they thought she was still pregnant. Gohan was the wild card, because he didn’t know either.

Gohan flew overhead, and 17 shoved her outside, laughing, “Showtime!”

Mia looked up, seeing Gohan pull in for a landing. Mia ran towards him, doing her best to zig zag like her mom had told her, but in the moment, it was a lot harder to do. She waved her arms at him yelling, “Get out of here!” There was a loud bang, a pain in her chest. She saw the blast barrel through her into Gohan’s shoulder as she fell, the world fading away around her.

* * *

 

Mia pulled her hand away from Gohan’s temple, disconnecting her mind from his. His eyes were wide as he tried to blink back the tears. “A boy?” he asked. Mia nodded. “I had a son?”

Mia opened her mouth to respond, but an attendant called out to them, “Mia Jicama and Son Gohan? King Yemma will see you now.”

Mia grabbed Gohan’s hand, pulling him towards their judgement. The palace was large and had a large “Welcome” sign over the gate, but once they stepped through the doors, it was clearly because King Yemma was a giant. The whole palace was one room with red carpet and a large mahogany desk where a giant pink demon looking man sat, his black hat sprouting large horns. He had shaggy black hair, and a grizzled black beard. The oddest part was the giant’s bored stare through red reading glasses at his notebook labeled, “Earth Deaths Age 781.”

“Mia Jicama, according to your record, you only started doing real heroic work this past year after meeting Gohan. Before then, your life was fairly average. No great misdeeds to make up for. No great heroic feats to boost your standing,” the giant man stated boredly, not looking away from his notebook.

Gohan’s grip tightened on Mia, hoping that wherever they ended up, it was together.

“Son Gohan on the other hand has done so many good deeds that he’s earned a permanent spot in heaven,” Yemma added, placing his notebook down and removing his reading glasses.

Mia’s grip tightened on her husband’s, trying her best not to cry as she asked, “We won’t be together anymore?” Yemma frowned looking at the couple. Frankly, he was used to people trying to argue their afterlife sentencing. People always thought they deserved better than they actually do. Forgiveness for past discretions wasn’t his to give.

Gohan pulled her closer to him as he stated, “Frankly King Yemma, I’d rather be placed with her.”

The giant narrowed his gaze on them. Now that was something he didn’t see everyday. Someone denying heaven to spend their afterlife with another. “I didn’t say you’d be separated. You are a shoe in. She just barely made it.”

“I made it?” Mia asked hopefully. Yemma frowned as she squealed, hugging Gohan tightly. He hugged her back, kissing her head gently, happy to know they’d be together. It already hurt so much knowing he’d never see his son. But the prospect of spending forever with Mia made it bearable.

“Gohan?” a voice asked behind them.

Gohan let go of Mia, turning to see his father standing next to an elderly lady with pink hair and a witch’s outfit sitting on a hovering ball. “Dad!” Gohan quickly pulled his father into a hug, which Goku responded in kind. It had been fourteen years since his father had passed. Mia stood off to the side, looking to the ground awkwardly.

“Baba, what are you doing here?” Yemma asked in a booming voice.

The witch frowned at him, stating, “You know how chaotic it is on Earth these days? It’s safer here.”

Yemma scowled at the witch, not liking the answer she gave him. “The afterlife isn’t your hideout.”

Baba gave him a funny look before stating, “If you gave me a warrior who could defeat those hooligans, then I wouldn’t need a hideout, would I!?”

Yemma set his jaw at her response. She knew as well as him there wasn’t anyone able to defeat the androids. Not at the moment.

Goku tapped his son’s shoulder, drawing his attention. “Who’s that?” Goku asked, pointing to Mia.

Gohan smiled. “Mia, this is my dad. Dad this is my wife, Mia.”

Mia offered her hand, and Goku took it with a beaming smile that matched his son’s. As Gohan and Goku began talking again, Mia stepped away back to Yemma, asking, “Sir? I was wondering if there was a way to see our son on earth.” Gohan stopped, looking back to Yama for an answer. He was eager to see his son as well.

“I can help with that,” the old woman said, her voice crackly as she floated toward Mia, gesturing for her to follow. Mia did, and Gohan and Goku followed behind her. As she reached the outside, she hopped off her ball, asking for the child’s name, which Mia supplied, and the old woman started her magic, grumbling over her crystal ball.

An image began to take shape until it was clear. Siyaka was holding little Bracken in her arms as Libby cried into Sharpner’s shoulder. Siyaka had taken Mia’s body into the house and put her in a glass casket, which Mia didn’t know about. Libby and Sharpner must have left the room after the androids left. Bracken cried, and Siyaka tried to calm him by gently bouncing. Mia could see her mom was crying, but doing her best to keep it from affecting her.

Gohan crowded in towards the ball, trying to see his son. A bittersweet smile on his face as he said, “He’s beautiful.” Mia nodded grabbing his hand to keep from crying. Goku also looked on, his lips pursed as he realized what they were looking at.

Trunks came flying in, carrying Gohan’s body into the living room with everyone else, something different about him. Bulma came running out of one of the back rooms, producing another casket from a capsule, and Trunks eased him inside. Bulma started lighting candles, and Siyaka handed Bracken to Libby, mentioning she had to break the news to ChiChi before flying out. The image fizzled out, and Mia did her best to keep from crying.

Gohan pulled her close to him. “Our goodbye is only for now.”

She nodded, knowing he was right. Goku put his hand on Gohan’s shoulder, and they knew it was time to leave. Hand in hand, she followed her husband into their afterlife.

* * *

 

AN: As always, favorite, follow, **_remember to leave a review!_**


	5. Epilogue

Disclaimer: All DBZ content is owned by Akira Toriyama, Funimation, and Toei Animation.

 

Epilogue: _Requiem_

_Requiem aeternam dona eis. Et lux perpetua luceat eis. “Grant them eternal rest. And let light perpetual shine upon them.”_

 

Three years had passed since that fateful day. Siyaka stood next to a large Capsule Corp spaceship, a three-year old Bracken balancing on her hip, sucking his thumb, a habit she was trying to break. Bracken, like the rest of his Saiyan family, still had the same hair he was born with. He hadn’t gained control of his tail yet, but where they were going, it wouldn’t matter. As he’d grown, ChiChi often remarked how much he looked like his grandfathers. Siyaka could see it. She’d only seen Goku as a toddler around the same age and could see a lot of similarities, but there were some expressions he had she knew came directly from Vegeta.

Siyaka and ChiChi had been taking turns taking care of the boy. Neither grandmother could part with him long. For Siyaka, Bracken had started to fill the void in her heart that Mia had left, and she felt it was the same for ChiChi. While they didn’t agree completely on how to raise him, they agreed he should be well educated as well as well trained.

What made things difficult recently was when Siyaka had taken Kakarot’s old files to ChiChi, just to tell her a little bit about her husband’s family, she found Raditz had left a note giving the exact coordinates for New Vegeta. When Siyaka told her they should go, as Bracken was the heir apparent, ChiChi had originally refused. But after talking it over, ChiChi eventually agreed, as long as she came with to make sure he was still being educated as planned.

Now ChiChi stood next to her, with bags loaded with books and clothes to last a lifetime. She sold her house, citing too many painful memories and was ready to board the spaceship bound for New Vegeta to live among the Saiyans.

Trunks and Bulma stood opposite them. Trunks wore his new leather jacket, black tank top, and black cargo pants. He was sixteen, almost seventeen now. He wore his teen angst like a badge on his sleeve, like most kids his age. He’d be leaving later today too, his own mission to attend to.

“I can’t believe this is goodbye,” Bulma sniffled. Over the years, she and Siyaka had gotten close, just as Siyaka and ChiChi had.

Siyaka smiled. “I don’t think it is. Not truly.”

Trunks eyed her carefully. In Gohan’s stead, Siyaka had taken the role of his mentor. “You mean that?” he asked.

Her smile widened. “I have to bring more Saiyans back to avenge Mia. Of course it’s not goodbye.” Siyaka passed Bracken over to ChiChi so she could pull Trunks into a tight embrace. “Remember,” she whispered in his ear, “Don’t let slip about Mia and I to anyone. In whatever timeline you go to, you still need to happen.” Trunks blushed at the implication. Siyaka pulled away, giving Trunks a punch to his shoulder.

“Wait for us!!!”

Siyaka turned, seeing Libby running up the side of the building as fast as she could, Rulla in tow. Rulla and Bracken were best friends now. Libby brought her over frequently for play dates to make sure both kids were socialized. It took Rulla some time to learn that pulling Bracken’s tail wasn’t good playing though.

ChiChi set Bracken down as he wiggled out of her arms, and he ran up to Rulla who had also been set down. Rulla was a lot like her mother. Long blonde hair, brown eyes with a round face and cute button nose. Her golden tresses were pinned on one side, and she wore a cute lavender dress. She held her hands behind her back as her shoulders moved back in forth as she said, “Momma said we have to say goodbye. That you’re going away.”

Bracken nodded. He was a quiet kid.

“Do you know when you’ll be back?” she asked, looking a little sad.

Bracken shook his head.

Rulla looked to the ground gloomily before reaching around him, pulling him into a hug. He hugged her back, a little unsure. “Just remember, I’ll be thinking of you,” she told him, hugging him tighter. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

“Ugh! Rulla!” he groused, wiping his cheek as they let go of each other. Siyaka and ChiChi tried to suppress a smile. They were in the “cootie” phase. Rulla pouted a little, but didn’t cry. Libby had told Siyaka about Rulla’s crush after Rulla told her preschool teacher she was going to marry Bracken one day. Siyaka didn’t mention it to ChiChi. She might blow it out of proportion. But for now it was cute.

As Siyaka turned to load up into the ship. She turned to Bulma, asking, “You made sure the communications are on this thing, right?”

Bulma nodded. “Completely up to date and running.”

“Good,” Siyaka sighed. “I’ll be calling with updates. And I expect to hear if Trunks’ experiment pays off before ours.”

“Of course,” Bulma replied. The blunette pulled Siyaka into a tight hug, adding, “You take care out there.” Siyaka responded in kind, before walking into the ship, ChiChi walking behind her telling Bracken to wave at everyone.

“Bye Bracken!” Trunks called tearfully.

“Bye Bye Uncle Trunks!” Bracken called back with a wave.

Trunks eyes went wide. That was the first time Bracken had called him uncle. He saw Siyaka smiling and knew she’d been working with him on that. He blinked away his tears, trying his best to look tough. But his mother caught him and smiled bittersweetly. They waved at the ship as it shot off into the stratosphere and out into space. Trunks stood there, watching the ship become nothing but a dot. Rulla sniffled next to them, and Libby picked her up, whispering something to her. She looked to Bulma and Trunks, saying a small, “Thanks,” before leaving with her young daughter.

Bulma nudged her shoulder against Trunks, pulling him from his stupor. “Come on,” she sighed. “We gotta’ get you out of here too.”

* * *

 

Goku balked. “You’re kidding, right?!” Trunks remained stoic as Goku continued, “You’re positive Vegeta’s your father!?”

The purple-haired hybrid scowled. There were more important things. “Yes.”

Goku blinked at him, as if trying to assess his mental state as he did before with their little spar. “You’re serious.” He turned back to Vegeta, taking in the prince’s general discontented demeanor. “Yes, I can kind of see a resemblance.”

“I will be born two years from now,” Trunks huffed, putting his hands in his pockets.

“My gosh,” Goku gasped. “Vegeta’s going to be a daddy!”

Trunks grimaced, muttering to himself, “He’s already one,” thinking of his half-sister Mia. He froze, eyes wide as he realized he let slip the one thing he really wasn’t supposed to.

Goku’s gaze snapped back to Trunks quickly. “What do you mean he’s already one?”

“Nothing,” Trunks stumbled, trying to move onto his bigger news.

“No,” Goku stated, clearly not buying it. “Who else is there? What’s going on?”

Trunks set his jaw before answering, “In my timeline, I had a half-sister named Mia, born and raised here on earth. She is Vegeta’s daughter, conceived while under Frieza’s command. She and her mother reside here on earth, but if Vegeta finds out, I won’t be born. So, this has to stay strictly between us.”

“Of course,” Goku replied, nodding his understanding. “So, what happened to her?” He’d caught Trunks’ use of past tense.

Trunks pursed his lips before answering, “What I came here to warn you about.” Goku frowned seriously. “In three years on May 12th, on an island nine miles southwest of South City, two androids will appear, created by the now debunked Red Ribbon Army. They have dreadful power, even by our standards. They’re monsters, Goku. That’s the best way I can describe them. Monsters. Once they surface, the world you’ve protected for so many years will be gone for good.”

Goku frowned, at Trunks, crossing his arms over his Yardratian garb. “Androids?” he asked.

Trunks nodded. “In three years.”

“From the Red Ribbon Army?” Goku added, still confused. “I wiped them out years ago.”

Trunks shrugged, “You left Dr. Gero alive. He’s their creator.”

Goku scowled. “So what’s he after? The same ‘I’m gonna take over the world,’ plan?”

“Probably,” Trunks answered, “But the androids killed him first, so we don’t really know.” Goku made a small disapproving grunt, pursing his lips. “What we do know is that they delight in pain and chaos. Hunting me down is their current hobby, because they’ve killed everybody else already! Piccolo, Krillin, Vegeta, Yamucha, Tien, Chaotzu. Gohan escaped the first round, but they eventually got him too, and Mia, fourteen years later.” He clenched his fists, doing his best to push down the painful memory. “I’m not strong enough on my own, and Siyaka...” He paused, wondering if he should continue, but he’d already spilled about Mia. “Siyaka won’t risk herself with Bracken …”

Goku looked at the Saiyan teen bleakly. “I don’t know who...”

Trunks stepped closer, a hand out as he said, “It might be easier if I just show you.” Goku frowned as Trunks placed his and on Goku’s temple before flooding him with images, thoughts, and how events unfolded in his timeline.

Trunks stepped back once he’d finished relaying the information, leaving Goku looking dazed, wide-eyed, and tearful. He blinked a few times, trying to put his thoughts together. “Gohan and Mia were …”

“Married,” Trunks answered. “Only a couple months before the androids killed them.”

“And Bracken is …”

“Their son. Yours and Vegeta’s grandson.”

Goku nodded blankly. “And I died of …”

“The Heart Virus. It’s a pretty radical disease. You’ll start hearing about it soon,” Trunks commented. “Not even a Super Saiyan can beat it.”

Goku continued to nod blankly. It was one thing to die in battle at his age, but a virus? He was only twenty-six, and would be dead before thirty. He swallowed his mild existential crisis before smirking, muttering a small, “Well damn. That’s a bummer. I really want to kick their ass.”

Trunks balked at the older Saiyan. “You’re not afraid of them?”

“No, more disappointed,” Goku answered, crossing his arms and glaring at the ground. “They sound really challenging, I’m going to miss out.” He always hated missing on a challenge like that.

“Wow. Mom was right about you.” Goku frowned as Trunks reached into his pocket, pulling out what looked like a pill bottle. “My mom developed medicine years back, and now the virus is pretty much gone. She told me if you got this, you’d be able to make a difference.” Goku started smiling sheepishly, starting to wonder who Trunks’ mom actually was.  “She also asked me to ask you to pass this note to her current self. I don’t know what it is though.” He handed both the pills and the letter to Goku who looked at the objects as if they were pieces to a puzzle.

He held them carefully before looking at Trunks, warily asking, “So, do I know your mom?”

Trunks pointed blankly across the crater, stating, “She’s standing right there.”

Goku fell comedically, shrieking with laughter, “Bulma and Vegeta!?!?!?!” Trunks blushed as Goku recovered, giggling hard, “I know you’ve had some pretty big news, but that one takes the cake. Bulma and Vegeta …”

“They’ll find their way together soon, but if they get wind of it, I might not be born. Especially if you tell Vegeta about Siyaka and Mia. Promise you won’t tell!” Trunks pleaded.

“I promise,” Goku replied.

“Good,” Trunks sighed. He looked off to the group, adding, “It was interesting to meet my Dad. I could see where Mia got her abrasiveness from.”

“Are they a lot alike?” Goku asked, looking at his son now.

“Oddly, yeah.” Trunks gave a relaxed smile before adding, “Hopefully with you in the game this time, things will turn out much better.”

Goku smiled back. “Yeah.”

* * *

 

Bulma sat at her desk later that evening, frowning at the letter the mystery kid handed to Goku to give to her. Contemplating what was inside. Was it specs to the time machine if they failed? The antidote recipe? The front read, “To myself.” So at least she knew she was alive and well twenty years from now.

Bulma huffed, snatching the letter up, and ripping the envelop open. There was no use pondering its contents. She was supposed to read it anyway.

She held the note up to the light, seeing her own scratchy handwriting. Somethings wouldn’t change.

_“Bulma,_

_It’s me, your future self. I can’t explain much, but enclosed are instructions to creating two serums you must put on the market as soon as possible. One is for the heart virus Goku will contract. The other is for some people you haven’t met yet, but when you do, they will become very important to you. They need that serum before you meet them, again for reasons I can’t say. When you meet them, you will understand._

_Sincerely,_

_Bulma.”_

Bulma frowned, looking at the other two pages, each with chemical structures drawn on them. She walked them over to her computer, putting each page under a scanner for the computer to identify the structures drawn. The first one popped up as, “Unidentified Antidote.” The other read, “Unidentified Hormone Regulator.” Bulma scowled at the last one, puzzled about who would need a hormone regulator and why.

Her lab buzzed open, and her father walked in. “Just checking in, honey,” her father called, his hands in his lab coat’s pockets. He frowned at the screen, seeing the new chemical structures. “What are you working on?”

Bulma frowned. “Something I told myself to put on the market.”

Mr. Briefs gave her a strange look, and she waved him off. She looked at each of the structures, her hand on her chin as she contemplated each structure. They were both simple. All the ingredients looked to be readily available. A part of her wondered if she really needed to spend her time working on that kind of stuff, before she mentally reprimanded herself. If her future self said it was important, then it was.

* * *

 

Goku followed his wife and son into Orange Star Mall. ChiChi had forced them to take a day off from training to go clothes shopping. As much as he protested, reminding his wife of the androids coming to take over in a year and a half, but she wasn’t having it, and in the end she won. While ChiChi looked at clothes for herself, Gohan had dragged him to one of the bookstores left in the mall a couple stores down. Goku wasn’t a fan of this type of shopping either, but Gohan was adamant that he was going to get this book by a scientist with radical concepts on theoretical physics as well as a book on advanced martial arts.

As Gohan perused for his book, Goku’s attention was drawn to a corner of the store where a sitting area was as a security guard walked up to a girl sitting in one of the red chairs. Goku’s eyes went wide as he recognized her immediately.

“Ma’am, you’ve been sitting here for two hours reading,” the guard commented. “This isn’t a library. Either you buy the book or you leave.”

The girl’s cutting glance to the guard was a dead ringer for Vegeta if Goku ever saw one. She was the same age as Gohan, around nine, but it was clear she was already starting to mature physically. She snapped the book close and moved to get up.

“It’s ok, sir,” Goku said, stepping in. “We’re about to check out.”

Both the guard and girl frowned at him. The girl looked like she recognized him a little, but couldn’t place where. “Is she with you?”

Goku nodded.

The guard shrugged, turning to leave the girl alone. The girl stood, frowning sheepishly as she said, “You didn’t have to do that.”

Goku smiled his trademark Son Family grin. “Don’t worry about it.” Gohan walked up to his dad, his arms loaded with books. Goku looked at his son weirdly before asking, “You get everything?”

Gohan nodded emphatically before seeing the girl and awkwardly squeaking out a small, “Hi.”

“Hey.”

There was a long silence between them. Goku wasn’t really sure what he was hoping for. His son finally met his future wife, and all he could do was squeak out was a small “hi.” Maybe he’d been hoping for a little more, like some recognition or some banter or common ground, but they didn’t know each other … yet. “Ok,” Goku sighed awkwardly, realizing he couldn’t very well say, “Hey, remember purple-haired guy? He says you two get married in fifteen years.” It was the same issue with Bulma and Vegeta. They would never talk to each other after that. Instead, he offered, “I’ll get your book if you want to ring up with us.”

The girl muttered a small, “Thanks,” tucking her book under her arm. She walked towards the front, and both Gohan and Mia placed their books on the counter, Mia refusing to look at Gohan.

“Whatcha’ reading?” Gohan asked as the man behind the counter began ringing them up.

“Harry Potter,” she muttered, “the third one.”

“Oh,” Gohan uttered, “I’ve never read that.”

She frowned, shifting a glance at Goku curiously before stating, “It’s good. Wizards, magic, good versus evil.”

Gohan pursed his lips, muttering, “I mostly read nonfiction.”

“Oh,” she breathed, pursing her lips looking outside the window awkwardly. The cashier gave Goku a total, and he reached in his pockets, pulling out a crisp $5,000 zeni bill ChiChi had given him. Gohan noticed, and shot his father a weird look. Goku handed Mia her book. “Thanks Mr …”

“I’m Goku. And this is my son, Gohan,” he offered.

She gave a small nod and bow. “Thanks.” Quickly, she turned to leave, opening her book to where she had been before the guard interrupted her, reading as she walked.

“Dad, you spent your allowance,” Gohan stated as the left, his and his father’s gaze following the curious girl, but heading the opposite direction back to ChiChi, his books in tow.

“Uh-huh,” Goku sighed blankly.

“Why?”

Goku smiled. “You should do nice things for people you don’t know. You never know who could be important.” Gohan frowned at his father’s advice, turning to look at the girl again, engrossed in her book. He turned back to follow his father into the store they had left ChiChi in, missing Mia turning to look back at him curiously.

 

_**The End** _

* * *

 

AN: I have had a blast writing this. Thank you so much for reading this! As always, favorite, follow, **_remember to leave a review!_**


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